THE MIRRORNewspaper of the International Dzogchen Community March /April 2006 • Issue No. 79

After long months of unsta-ble weather the elementsbegan to harmonize. The

clouds abated and the sunregained its force and heat. Thebig waves smashed against thecoast, the beaches receded and thechurned water of the ocean set-tled. A familiar feeling caused bytiny ripples of sweat descendingfrom the hairline, halting justabove the eyebrows during the hothours of the day or after a meal,indicated that normal Mar garitaweather had returned.

These signs marked thebeginning of the March retreat.Instead of rain showers, a finedrizzle of precious teachingsdescended to mitigate the heartravaged by passions. AsRinpoche began to speak, themagnetizing ener gy transformedthe island into a pure land andVajra brothers and sisterschanged into gods and goddesses.As narrated in theVimalakirtinirdesha Sutra, inreality all is pure and perfect fromthe very beginning. When ques-tioned by Manjushri about theimperfections of the world, theBuddha touched the ground withhis fingers and the whole worldmanifested as a wonderful heavenmade with lapis lazuli. However ,in our condition in Mar garita, itwas only the Master ’s presencethat could arouse an understand-ing of that pure condition.

There was a time when the

Dzogchen teachings permeatedthe life of beings in many dimen-sions; however , circumstancesarose causing those teachings tovanish into the recesses of themind of a few knowledge holdersor remain as condensed crypticoral snyan brgyud such as the onefrom the Manjushri Tantra whichsays: “The eye of wisdom is(from the beginning) stainless”.At fortunate times, when the ideaof ‘presence’crosses the minds ofbeings, these teachings reappearin their magnificence.

About three hundred yearsafter the demise of the Buddha, achild was born towards the north-west of India, in a land knownthen as Oddiyana, the locationwhere many Tantras originated.This child, known as GarabDorje, amazed everyone by recit-ing by memory the Total Space ofVajrasattva (rdo rje sems pa nammkha che), a text that extracts theessence of the teaching likechurned butter from the milk ofthe Dzogchen Tantras. Over thecourse of time, this child re-pro-claimed the ancient DzogchenTantras that had disappeared.

Although Padmasambhavahad taught extensively the innerTantras of Anuyoga and Atiyoga,the scriptures of these systemswere not available in Tibet at thattime. For this reasonPadmasambhava advised his dis-ciple, the Tibetan translatorVairocana, to travel to Oddiyanawhere he could learn and translate

the Dzogchen Tantras into theTibetan language. Following theadvice of the Precious Guru,Vairocana traveled to Oddiyanawhere he primarily studied withShri Singha as well as other greatmasters. With Shri Singha,Vairocana was able to ascertainthe meaning of many DzogchenTantras and eventually translate?the ‘five earlier translations’(snga ‘gyur lnga). These are: theCuckoo of Instant Presence (Rigpa’i khu byug), the Arousing ofGreat Potency (rTsal chen sprugspa), the Great Soaring Garuda(Khyung chen lding ba), PureGold in the Stone (rDo la gserzhun), The V ictory Banner thatdoes not Wane (Mi nub pa’i rgyalmtshan) also known as The TotalSpace of Vajrasattva.

The five texts mentionedabove are very important, as therewere no written Dzogchen textsprior to them in Tibet. Among thefive, Vairocana first translated theCuckoo of Instant Pr esence.Originally this text was entitledThe Six V ajra V erses butVairocana changed it because arelated Tantra exists with thatname. Furthermore, the singingof the cuckoo is an auspicioussign indicating the arrival ofspring in Tibet when everythingbegins to awaken, a metaphoricaldescription for the arising ofinstant presence.

At about the age of thirteen,Rinpoche received the oral trans-mission of the Collection of the

Total Space of VajrasattvaRetreat with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Margarita Island, Friday March 10-19 2006

Schedule Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

2006

TASHIGAR NORTE, MARGARITA ISLAND

FRANCE

May 18-22Paris RetreatThe Purification of the Six Lokas as Pr eliminaries of the Path of Ati

May 23 Leave for Karmaling

May 26-28Karmaling RetreatNyamtrid Dzogchen Nyingthig

MERIGAR WEST, ITALY

May 29Leave for Merigar

June 9-15Longsal Teachings in the Gonpa of Merigar Yeshes Zangthal and Nadzer’s TransmissionRestricted Web Cast

June 12 International Gakyil Meeting (afternoon)

June 1725th Anniversary of Merigar Festival

June 30-July 21Rinpoche’s Personal Retreat

Teaching:Chögyal Namkhai NorbuOddiyana The Treasure House of the Teachings

Teachings in the Gonpa at Margarita M SALVATORE

by Elio Guarisco

C O N T E N T S

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SpecialPracticeCalendarFire DogYear

Interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama byRaimondo Bultrini

Anuyoga teaching is one ofthe paths of transforma-tion that was originally

taught and diffused in Tibet at thetime of Guru Padmasambhava. Itis also said that at the time of GuruPadmasambhava some originaltexts of Anuyoga were translated,but that is only mentioned in his -tory. What we actually know isthat Guru Padmasambhava origi-nally transmitted the knowledgeand understanding of Anuyogabut that the main teachings that hetransmitted were Mahayoga andAtiyoga teachings. There were also many originaltexts and teachings fromOddiyana, a mysterious countrythat was something like thesource of all higher Tantra teach-ings. Although many of theseteachings wer e translated fromIndian languages into the Tibetanlanguage, their origin was alwaysOddiyana. When we read thebiographies of the Mahasiddhaswho transmitted all these kinds ofhigher Tantra teachings, histori-cally it is said that they alwaystraveled to Oddiyana to receivethese teachings and later translat-ed and transmitted them in India.In that way the higher Tantrateaching developed there. In some biographies of theMahasiddhas it recounts that theytraveled to Oddiyana, however, inancient times traveling toOddiyana meant a great sacrificebecause it wasn’t very easy to getthere. Some of them almostreached Oddiyana or travelednear there, had pure visions andreceived these teachings. In orderto know about this we shouldstudy the biographies of theMahasiddhas a little more deeplybecause they are related to thesource of all these tantrum teach-ings. Most tantrum teachingswere introduced from dif ferentdimensions into Oddiyana and itbecame something like a symbolof the place that is the treasurehouse of all these kinds of teach-ings.

The importance of Oddiyana

Oddiyana is very important par-ticularly for the Dzogchen teach-ings. The origins of Garab Dorje,the main teacher of Dzogchen,were in Oddiyana and all theDzogchen t eachings t hat w eretaught by Garab Dorje weretaught in Oddiyana so it is a veryimportant place. But we do notknow where it is. Many peoplesay that it was a kind of paradise,or only a kind of pure dimension.That is possible for a practitioner.For a practitioner , there canalways be a pure dimension. Butwhen we talk about theMahasiddhas of ancient timesand the fact that they traveled toOddiyana, it doesn’ t mean thatthey went to a dimension of par-adise. It means that they had aphysical body; they traveledphysically and arrived in a physi-cal country so it is very importantthat we understand that and notjust think that it was some type ofparadise. Why do we have the idea thatOddiyana was just a paradise? Itoriginally came from the historyof the Guhyasamaja Tantra. ThisTantra comes not only from theNyingmapa tradition but there is

also a translation in the moderntradition. The root of the moderntradition of the GuhyasamajaTantra is particularly related tothe Mahasiddha Saraha and themain person who developed thisteaching w as N agarjuna, s o i tbecame a very important Tantra.

Buddha transmits theGuhyasamaja Tantra inOddiyana

Now in this history there is anexplanation that relates that inOddiyana there was a kingdom, avery ancient kingdom. And in thatkingdom there was a king whowas very faithful and had greatdevotion to the teaching of theBuddha. He invited manyBuddhist teachers from India buthe was particularly interested inmeeting Buddha Shakyamuni. Then he asked some of his royalteachers what he could do inorder to meet BuddhaShakyamuni. Traveling to Indiato the place of the Buddha wasvery difficult and even if he invit-ed Buddha Shakyamuni to visithim, it would be a trip of manydays and would not be so easy .Some of the royal teachers said tohim, “The Buddha is omniscient,a totally realized being. If youcommunicate with him and invitehim to your palace on a specificday at a specific time then maybehe will manifest and you can havethat contact with him.”He followed their advice and on aspecial day - a day like the fullmoon - he prepared everything toreceive the Buddha and he startedreciting prayers for inviting him.Then at midday , at the time theBuddha and the Sangha would goout to get food, the Buddha andsome of the Arhats manifested infront of the king’ s palace. Heinvited them into the palace andoffered them a midday meal. Ofcourse the Buddha not only atebut also gave some teachings tothe king. The king had already been fol-lowing Buddha’s teaching and heknew many of them. He said tothe Buddha, “I’m sorry , I very

much like your path and yourteaching but it is the path ofrenunciation. I am a king andhave my kingdom and my sub-jects and I have to continue totake care of this situation and can-not renounce all these things. Forthat reason I cannot follow yourpath in a perfect way”. Buddhatold him not to worry , “The pathis not only the path of renuncia-tion. There is also a possibilitythat you transform.” Then the king became interestedand asked Buddha to give himthat teaching and Buddha mani-fested instantly as Guyiasamayayab yum , in peacefulSambogakaya form. The king hadalready devel oped his capacityand clarity and he immediatelyreceived the teaching of the pathof transformation through thisteaching of the GuyiasamayaTantra. So the king of Oddiyana becamea practitioner of the GuyiasamayaTantra and that practice and thattransmission, that lineage, contin-ued. And later on, he became avery important Mahasiddha, notjust a king, but without renounc-ing his kingdom, his wealth or hisactivities. He became a greatteacher and transmitted [thisteaching] to his ministers, his stu-dents and all those who wereinterested. These are the historical facts. Butthen this history got carried awayby fantasy and people started tosay that the king and his ministersall became Mahasiddhas andwere all realized and that all thepeople of Oddiyana were follow-ing teachings. People thought thatall the people of Oddiyana werelike Dakas and Dakinis and notonly the king and his ministerswere realized but the whole ofOddiyana became a kind of par-adise. That means it dissolvedinto pure vision, not impurevision. Of course if it dissolvedinto pure vision then of course theimpure vision disappeared. Thatis the reason why we cannotphysically find Oddiyana today.

Geographical location of

Oddiyana and Shambhala

When people talk aboutShambhala, they consider thatthings were more or less the sameas in Oddiyana. But in the realsense, it was not that way becauseOddiyana actually was a geo -graphical country. Many Tibetanteachers, for example, traveledfrom Tibet to Oddiyana and wrotedown the story of how they gotthere. So this shows that it was aconcrete place. When I was working withProfessor Tucci in Italy – he wasa famous Tibetologist who did alot of research on Oddiyana – heonce asked me to check all theimportant books such as the com-mentaries on the sutras to see ifthere were some explanationsabout [the existence of]Oddiyana. I spent two or threemonths doing research on thatlooking everywhere to see if therewere some explanations. I foundsome very interesting informationin one sutra which said thatnorthwest of Bodhgaya there wasa country, a big kingdom calledOddiyana whose capital wascalled Dhumatala. But there wasalso a small kingdom within thiskingdom that was governed byone of the princes of the king ofOddiyana. That small kingdomwas called Shambhala, notShambhala. So this shows thatthese countries existed. When we do a little research intothe histories of where teacherstraveled in ancient times, mostpeople and scholars are con-vinced that Oddiyana was oncethe place where Pakistan is nowlocated. They are also convincedthat Shambhala was located in thearea now known as Afghanistan.So it is very simple to understand.

Centuries of Muslim invasions

Why did Shambhala andOddiyana disappear? Becausethere were very strong invasionsof Muslims from Turkestan. InTibet if there are some forces thatare destructive for Buddhism ormanifest bad actions we call thiskind of group turuka. Later onwhen I studied history I under-stood that it meant Turkey. In ancient times Turkey had avery strong Muslim tradition andinvaded many Oriental countries.For example in China today thereis an autonomous region calledSinkiang. In ancient times all thepeople there were Buddhists andBuddhism was very dif fused notonly in Sinkiang but also through-out the whole of Central Asia. Butlater on the Turkish invasionstook place and then everyoneconverted and became Muslim. You know that in the Buddhisttradition there is no struggle ofthis kind so it is very easy forsomeone to destroy things with-out having the consequences ofwar. There were Buddhists notonly in Central Asia but also inSouth Asia, and in each countrypeople had to convert and so theybecame Muslim countries. Thismeant that if someone convertedand accepted the Muslim religionseriously, then maybe theyremained alive. If someone didn’taccept, they were killed, eliminat-ed. And this didn’t happen just fora day or a short time, but for gen-

eration after generation. This iswhy people don’ t know whathappened to Oddiyana andShambhala.

Origin of the Anuttaratantra

So we can easily understandwhere Oddiyana was and whetherit existed. For example, manyWesterners and professors whohave been studying and doingresearch for a long time havegone to Afghanistan and Pakistanand in places like Swat they havefound m any o bjects f rom t heBuddhist tradition. This is theplace where all the Anuttaratantrateachings came from and wherethey developed. When we use all these Sanskritnames, people who are not accus-tomed to read and learn aboutthem may feel a little confused.You see what developed in themodern tradition, the Sarma,which I spoke about yesterday ,was the series of higher Tantrasor most important Tantras calledAnutaratantra. ‘Anu’ means supe-rior. In the same way when wetalk about Anuyoga, it is diffusedin the Nyingmapa traditionalthough it is not usually calledAnuttaratantra but Mahayoga.Anuttaratantra and Mahayoga aremore or less the same. Anuyoga isa very interesting teaching oftransformation but is not dif fusedin other traditions like theSakyapa, Gelugpa and Kagyupain which Anuttaratantra is dif-fused. The Anuyoga tradition isonly dif fused in the Nyingmapaand there are many initiations,practices and instructions aboutthis teaching in that tradition. Later on this teaching mainlydeveloped with Padmasambhava.After that the famous TibetanMahasiddha, called Nub SangyeYeshe, who lived precisely threegenerations afterPadmasambhava was in Tibet,was very interested in Anuyoga.In the most ancient times in histo-ry Vajrapani in the country ordimension called Lanka that ismore or less what we know todayas Sri Lanka transmittedAnuyoga. But today there are nokinds of Tantric teachings in SriLanka, only Hinayana. Theseteachings existed there in veryancient times but we don’ t knowhow they disappeared. But at the time ofPadmasambhava we know thatthese teachings spread very muchin a country called Tuja. In thatperiod, Tuja was very much likeShambala or Oddiyana. It wasn’ ta very big country but there weremany Mahasiddhas and practi-tioners of Anuyoga there. In par-ticular there was a very importantteacher of Anuyoga in that coun-try called Chetsenkye. NubSangye Yeshe, traveled to thecountry of Tuja and met thisteacher, Chetsenkye. He receivedall the principal Anuyoga teach-ings and later he translated all themain texts of Anuyoga intoTibetan. When he translated the texts intoTibetan he always did the transla-tions together with Chesenche. Idon’t know very much about thehistory of this teacher but perhapshe was also an expert in Tibetanlanguage. Maybe like ancient

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Oddiyana The Treasure House of the Teachings

An excerpt from the Santi Maha Sangha Base Level Retreat

Day 5Jan 31, 2006

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Rinpoche teaching in Margarita M SALVATORE

a s i a

Dear Friends,

With the campaign “500 MOTHERS FOR TIBET” launched at the end of 2005 and thanks tothe help of all of you, we have managed to start up many long-distance adoptions. We are, how-ever, still far from having 500 suppor ters.We will continue to count on your suppor t to give allthose children who are still waiting the possibility to attend school.Thank you

Andrea Del Angelo

Tibetan translators, they alwaystranslated together with theirmain teacher even if the teacherdidn’t know Tibetan. For exam -ple, Vairocana translated with SriSimha. It didn’ t mean that SriSimha knew Tibetan language buthe explained and made thingsclear so that Vairocana couldtranslate. So perhaps the roottexts of Anuyoga were translatedthat way. However, later on the Muslimsalso invaded this country and all

these teachings disappeared. Butfortunately all the teachings thatdeveloped in Oddiyana, inShambala and in Tuja were trans-lated into Tibetan and we can findthem in the Tibetan languagetoday. Tibetan is a language wecan understand so Tibetan booksand Tibetan language are veryimportant for the teaching.

Transcribed and edited by Liz Granger

Teaching ChNN continued from previous page

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 3

MERIGAR EAST, CRIMEA

August 4 Merigar East Retreat, CrimeaLeave for Crimea

August 9-15Teaching and nature of web cast undecided.

MERIGAR WEST, ITALY

August 18 Return to Merigar

SANTI MAHA SANGHA II LEVELAugust 22-24 SMS Level I ExamAugust 25-29 SMS Level II Training

September 8-16 Merigar West Retreat, MerigarTeaching and nature of web cast undecided.

SPAINOctober 23 Leave for Barcelona

October 26-30 Barcelona RetreatLongsal Ati’i Gongpa NgotrodUpadesha of Introduction to the State of Ati

Restricted Web Cast

BRAZIL

November 1 Leave for Sao Paulo

Brazil RetreatNovember 3-7 Teaching and nature of web cast undecided.

ARGENTINA

November 8 Leave for Buenos Aires

November 10-12 Buenos Aires Retreat

November 13Leave for Tashigar Sur

SANTI MAHA SANGHADecember 4-7 SMS Base Level ExamDecember 8-12 SMS Level I Training

December 26-January 1, 2007 Longsal Ati’i Gongpa Ngotrod Upadesha of Introduction to the State of AtiRestricted Web Cast

ChNN’s schedule continued from page 1

by Steve Landsberg

The Longsal Sal Tong retreatin February was held at IslaMargarita and webcasted

throughout the world. About twohundred people gathered everyafternoon to listen to Rinpoche’ steachings on practices related todeveloping the experience of clar-ity through understanding thefunction of prana. Webcasted toapproximately 500 audio and 100video connections worldwide,numerous practitioners every-where participatedTo further clarify his Longsalterma that he received through aseries of dreams, Rinpoche pre-pared a commentary that clarifiesdetails of the practices andincludes quotations from greatmasters such as Vimilitra,Longchenpa and Garab Dorje. Rinpoche stressed that although itis important to understand themethods involved in developingexperiences of clarity , the maingoal is to recognize through thisexperience the inseparable unityof clarity and emptiness. Describing how the pranas func-tion in relation to the body andthe elements, Rinpoche outlinedthe principle pranas and the sec-ondary pranas related to the senseorgans and the elements. He alsospoke of the wisdom and karmicpranas, which result in either thewisdom body or the experience ofsamsara. Rinpoche detailed many practiceslinked to the balancing of thepranas of the five elements. If thepranas are balanced there is noth-ing to do, but in general, we havemany tensions and as a result ourcondition is unbalanced in a vari-ety of ways corresponding to thesymptomatic strength or weak-ness of each of the five elements.For example, Rinpoche describedthat if the earth element is exag-gerated, one feels heavy , uncom-municative, sleepy , and dullminded. To overcome this ener-getic dysfunction, one shouldpractice at the time correspondingto the earth element, which is

either just after noon or midnight.The details of the method of prac-tice include sitting posture, gaz-ing, visualization, and breathing. As the retreat progressed,Rinpoche explained the relationbetween breathing and everyaspect of our life. The breathforms the basis of our karmicvision, as well as our experientialvision on the path, and ultimatelypure vision and infinite wisdom.If we can control our breath byimprisoning the karmic potentialin the central channel, then itbecomes possible to consume theseeds of karma and our samsaricvision. We will be able to governour prana ener gy with presenceand will not fall under the influ-ence of negative emotions. Explanation was then given onvarious methods for developingour understanding of prana and itsmovement. Rinpoche brieflyspoke about kumbhaka or thevase breathing method for trap-ping the karmic wind in the cen-tral channel and the benefits thatcan be achieved from such prac-tice. In regard to holding the breath,

Rinpoche indicated that when weare entertaining negative emo-tions, retaining the air is not onlynot very useful, but that it canproduce provocations that willdisturb our practice. If we feelsad, tired, or disturbed in anyway, it is best to breathe out andnot to inhale deeply or hold theair. On the other hand, if we feelfaith or compassion or experiencepure vision, holding the air canincrease and develop our practicein a positive way . Consequently,it is important to recognize thetone of our thoughts and adaptour practice accordingly.Concluding the retreat, Rinpochestressed the importance of ordi-nary presence in our daily lives,the state of Guru Yoga to connectwith the transmission, andexplained briefly one method ofdivination.

The Longsal Sal Tong Retreat with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Tashigar Norte, Margarita Island,Venezuela

February 17 – 26, 2006

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT SUPPORTINGA CHILD LIKE TASHI IN LONG DISTANCE

SPONSORSHIP?

For only 25 euro (30 US$) a month, you can giv e them the possibility to attend school and hav ean education that will offer them a better future. You will be able to follow your child’s progressthrough regular updating and photos sent directly to you by our local ag ents. If you wish, you

could even meet your child during a visit to his or her T ibetan community. For 18 years, ASIAOnlus has been protecting and helping the Tibetan people with their wealth of culture and tradi-

tions.

Send an email straight away to: adozioni@asia-onlus.org and we will send you, without obligation,all the information about our appeal. Tashi and another 500 Tibetan children are awaiting your

gesture of solidarity that could change their lives.

Via San Martino della Battaglia, 31 – 00185 Rome, ItalyTel: ++39.06.44340034, Fax: ++39.06.44702620

adozioni@asia-onlus.orgwww.asia-onlus.org

Have you ever thought about long distance sponsorship before? Would you like to support achild but don’t know with which association because you don ’t really understand how your dona-

tion will be used? Now you hav e the opportunity to make your dream come true.

Today if you decide to suppor t at distance one of the 500 T ibetan children on the ASIA Onluswaiting list, you can know for certain how your contribution will be used.

TRANSLATION PROJECT OF THE INTERNATIONAL DZOGCHEN COMMUNITYCOMPLETE WORKS OF CHÖGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU

NEW WEB SITE @ WWW.COMPLETEWORKS.INFO where it is possible to donate with a cr edit card There is a new web site of the Translation Project of the International Dzogchen Community, The CompleteWorks of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. The aim of this translation project is to make all the T ibetan Teachingsof Chögyal Namkhai Norbu available in Western Languages. Adriano Clemente has been working full timeon the translation of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s works for many years. Adriano has been able to do this workprimarily through funds raised by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. Since the year 2000, the International DzogchenCommunity has taken the responsibility for this fundraising that benefits the Community as a whole and isessential for the preservation of the Teachings. We hope that all the Gars, Gakyils and practitioners of ourDzogchen Community will continue to give their very precious and generous support to this project. Igor Legati supervised this project from June 2000 to December 2005. Now the Merigar Gakyil, with theapproval of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, has decided to entrust me with this project from the beginning ofJanuary 2006. With gratitude to Igor Legati for his work and ef fort in the last years to raise funds for thetranslation work of Adriano, I hope that it will be possible for me to continue this work in a good and posi -tive way. My deepest gratitude is to Chögyal Namkhai Norbu who continuously and with ultimate compas -sion, spreads the Dzogchen Teachings. I would also like to take the liberty to express the gratitude of all prac-titioners of the International Dzogchen Community to Adriano Clemente for his enormous effort and the fan-tastic work he has been doing for the Dzogchen Community for all these years. Please visit the new web siteand support our work.

Oliver LeickCoordinator of Complete Works of Chögyal Namkhai NorbuEmail: office@completeworks.infoWeb: www.completeworks.info

CHANGE OF DATESFOR DR. NIDA’SCOURSE at MERIGAR

We have an important noticefor all participants of theTraditional Tibetan Medicine(3rd year) course that will beheld in Merigar.

Due to personal obligationsthat require Dr. Nida to be inTibet for three weeks duringApril and May, the course willbe rescheduled as follows:

Part one will be in Septemberfrom the 16th to the 28th inMerigar.

Part two will be in Decemberfrom the 1st to the 12th inMerigar.

The course will take place inthe new course room adjacentto the Mandala room in thecapannone.

For any question please writeto:info@istitutoshangshung.org

Sincerely,Istituto Shang Shung Italy

Nyingma T antras (rnying margyud ‘bum) , in which the fiveearlier translations are included.The discovery of Vairocana’sCollection of Tantras upon a handwritten copy in Ladakh, deemedlost during the CulturalRevolution, became the sec-ondary cause that made it possi-ble for Rinpoche to apply theknowledge of these Tantras inpractice. Although the copy ofthis collection was f illed withmistakes, the mere fact that it wasavailable was invaluable in thatRinpoche could read and studytwo versions of the Total Space ofVajrasattva and three dif ferentcommentaries.

In the Vairocana collectionare also found texts of instruc-tions on the practice related to the‘five earlier translated texts’.Although t he c olophon o f t heinstructions related to the TotalSpace of V ajrasattva bear noauthor’s name, it does say, “thesewere given to Palkyi Yeshe”.Since he was a direct disciple ofVairocana, it seems logical toassume that Vairocana composedthese instructions. The colophonalso reveals that Nub SangyeYeshe wrote some two genera-tions after Vairocana. At first glance, the instructionswere not very clear to Rinpocheand for several years he took littleinterest in them. Later when hestudied and read them in theirentirety, the meaning becamemore apparent. As he was enter-ing these Tibetan texts in his com-puter, he encountered some dif fi-culties, as it appeared that theauthors jumped from one page toanother without much attention toany order. Some parts of the textswere in disarray and had beenshifted from their original posi-tion. Finally, however, Rinpochefound the key to re-or ganize thetexts.

Rinpoche edited the instruc-tions on The Total Space ofVajrasattava along with its threecommentaries in 2002, while liv-ing in Mar garita. In 2004 heworked on the instructions relatedto the five ‘earlier translatedtexts’. With a keen interest inaccomplishing this task,Rinpoche often awoke at 3am tobegin work. He was a littleapprehensive about this endeav-or; although he had received theverbal transmission of the TotalSpace of Vajrasattva, he had notreceived the same for the instruc-tions. As he felt compelled tocomplete this work, he continued

even though the transmission waslacking. During that time he haddreams in which he receivedexplanations of these instructionsfrom his uncle Tobden OgyenTenzin, Vairocana, and Y udraNyingpo. Once as he was receiv-ing some instructions from YudraNyingpo, at the conclusion of thetransmission, Y udra Nyingpotransformed into his uncleTobden Ogyen Tenzin; and fromthat time onwards, Rinpoche’ sapprehension vanished. It wasfrom t his t ime t hat R inpochebegan to give teachings on the‘five earlier translations’.

The March 2006 retreat inMargarita was the first occasionfor Rinpoche to give instructionson the practice of the Total Spaceof Vajrasattva. As the text of theinstructions on the practice con-tain obscure quotations from thedifferent versions of the originalTantra, and on the basis of manydreams and a commentaryascribed to Nub Sangye Yeshe,Rinpoche wrote a fifty-three pagecommentary explaining the prac-tice of The Total Space ofVajrasattva.

After having introduced thetopic of the retreat, Rinpocheemphasized that an intellectualapproach is not suf ficient for thepractice of Dzogchen. First of allone must become connected tothe transmission, which is identi-cal to the state of knowledge thatis embodied by our teacher andthe masters that have precededhim in an uninterrupted lineage.Nowadays, some people under-mine the need of a transmissionrelated to a lineage of masters andsay that one can get realizationwithout it; however, this is not thereal practice of Dzogchen. Webecome connected to the trans-mission mainly through the oralinstructions of the Master orthrough being shown the symbolsof our primordial state in a proce-dure that resembles the Tantricinitiation. In these ways wereceive a direct introduction toour own primordial state andlearn to regain awareness of it. Toapply this knowledge in practicewe must work concretely with theexperiences of the three doors—body, voice, and mind.

A very big obstacle toadvancing the knowledge of theprimordial condition is the egothat we cherish, the concept thatwe know better than others. Thisis not only an obstacle to our real-ization but also an obstacle inrelationships between people and

the source of many problems. Inorder to overcome this obstacle,we need to adopt a more humbleattitude and follow the teaching ina way that can actually manifestresults.

Rinpoche pointed out, fur-thermore, that we must be free ofthree defective ways of listeningto the teachings. One whose mindwanders into past and future day -dreams although physicallyattending the teaching is com -pared to an inverted vase.Regardless of how much water ispoured on the vase, nothing everenters it. One who listens but can-not remember or retain anythingis like a leaky vase that cannothold anything. Those who listento the teaching with their passionsare compared to a vase that con-tains poison that contaminateseverything including the teach-ing.

On the second day of theretreat, Rinpoche gave a directintroduction so that people couldconnect with the transmission.The main focus of his talk was thecorrect and incorrect ways ofmaintaining the state of contem-plation. Conceptualizing the pri-mordial condition, splitting it intosubject and object, one mistaken-ly strays from the real condition.In a state in which one neithertwists the real condition into aconcept nor dwells on the idea of‘no concept’, one remains cor-rectly in contemplation, not wan-dering from the real condition.Such a correct way of abiding isdistinct even from theMadhyamikas’ meditation onmere emptiness, which is only the‘absence of appearances’.

As the retreat progressed,Rinpoche explained that one can-not approach the natural statethrough ef fort or thought.Similarly, one cannot find itthrough an attempt to abandoneffort or conceptualization. Onecannot enter the door of contem-plation with the limited mind. Inregard to the state of contempla-tion, working with any conceptwhatsoever such as “appearancesare not to be rejected”, or evenTantric imaging, leads nowhere.On the other hand, resting with-out the slightest contrivance freeof any limitation is the true stateof contemplation.

Rinpoche explained themethod of applying practice uponthe e ssential c ontemplation i naccordance with one’ s capacityand how to train within definedperiods of practice until one

attains the state known as ‘totalcontemplation in all circum-stances’, in which there is no dis -tinction between a defined periodof practice and its aftermath.Teaching from the commentary ,Rinpoche pointed out the glitchesin doing practice such as laziness,agitation, too many hopes orfears, mental distraction, andengaging in too many externalactivities. He also indicated thatseeking, wishing for a stable con-dition, or any type of ef fort toestablish the natural condition aredefects that only disturb ourprogress.

Distinguishing Dzogchenfrom Tantra and Sutra, Rinpochestated that the view of TotalPerfection is not the conclusion ofan analytical process determinedby mind, but rather a discoverythrough direct experience of theprimordial condition. Based uponthat view, the meditation and atti-tude naturally unfold. Withoutconceiving any reality to oneselfor one’s conduct, one engages inpositive actions without rejectinganything. Although the state ofcontemplation is governed by theprinciple of ‘beyond action andeffort’, this does not mean that aDzogchen practitioner disregardsacting in a authentic way that cre-ates merits; but on the contrary ,governed by presence and aware-ness one trains well in the con-duct of Samantabhadra withoutfalling into any kind of limitation.Rinpoche indicated that the signsof experience may manifest eitherin a pleasant or unpleasant andrough way depending upon thecondition of the five elements ofthe body. Regardless of how pos-itive these signs of experiencemay be, they should not be objec-tified or considered as the realattainment. If they are consideredreal and one does actually seek toexperience them again and again,these signs can become an obsta-cle for deepening the state of con-templation.

Rinpoche explained that inthe beginning contemplation canarise unsteadily like a rushingwaterfall. Gradually , one attainsvarious levels of stability andaccomplishment. As a practition-er matures, even our ordinaryimpure vision manifests as clari-ty, unlike Tantrism, where it ispresent solely as the pure visionof the deity and the mandala. Theexperience of being withoutthoughts (mi rtog pa) is not to beunderstood as being free ofthoughts, but rather as a conditionwhere thoughts have no impactupon us. As thoughts arise, theyare noticed and without doinganything, they naturally dissolvelike a thief entering a house and

finding its owner , departs. Likewood when added to fire excitesthe flames, thoughts spontaneous-ly arise as wisdom and even neg-ative thought automaticallyunravels without the applicationof antidotes. Ultimately, not aban-doning anything, thoughts andmovement are realized as thespace of wisdom.

After emphasizing the goodfortune of meeting the Dzogchenteaching, Rinpoche completedthe transmission of his commen-tary with instructions regardingthe development of the practice.Whilst in the state of contempla-tion, obstacles such as sloth, agi-tation, or complacency mayoccur; but if these obstacles aregoverned with awareness, theycan enhance our practice and leadto the manifestation of outer ,inner, and secret signs. Althoughfrom the beginning the fruit ofenlightenment is present, we can-not discover its presence until allimpediments are removed.Unlike the Sutra system, where itis thought that the fruit is some-how produced, through the stateof contemplation obstacles arenaturally purified and cease bythemselves without having to beeliminated.

Rinpoche typically concludedthe retreat by giving advice onhow to integrate the practice indaily life. A Dzogchen practition-er should seek the essence of theteaching, knowing how to tran-scend attachment to specificforms of practice. At the sametime, he or she should be open toparticipate in formal collectivepractice whenever there is theopportunity. Doing service forour ego by isolating ourselvesfrom others on the pretext that welike solitary practice may onlycreate more obstacles and inter-rupt our spiritual feeling.Although one needs to followone’s own path, it is necessary tocultivate respect for the dimen-sion of others.

The retreat ended with a shortthun practice and with the aware-ness of having had the good for-tune to receive instructions on atext that strikes directly at theessence of the Dzogchen teach-ing. Rinpoche announced thatmore than three thousand peoplearound the globe listened to theweb cast and expressed his wishthat this technology could be ofservice to the teaching. Rosa, thesecretary of Tashigar North,offered simple and touchingwords of gratitude to the master .Harmoniously and without obsta-cles,

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Total Space of Vajrasattva continued from page 1

Shang Shung InstituteInternational Institute for Tibetan Studies

The Shang Shung Institute of Italy is happy toinform the Dzogchen Community of its recent activ-ities and upcoming projects.

PROJECTS & NEWS

New Milestone in Preservationof Ch.N.N. Teachings!

T his project would make a tremendous differ-ence in the preservation and fruition of ALL

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's Teachings. It was origi-nally proposed over one year ago by Yeshi Namkhaiand Rinpoche was enthusiastic about it, but due toa lack of funding it couldn’t be initiated. The basicidea is to build a huge redundant storage serverbased on hard disk arrays which will be expandableto contain all of the digitized data from the SSIArchives, controlled by a centralized database.

The need of such Enterprise Level Storage is dueto the problem of life expectancy of the media-sup-port we currently use. To date, all of the digitallyarchived materials (audio, video and scanned man-uscripts) have been saved on optical disks, whichin some extreme cases last as little as 2-4 years,meaning we must continuously transfer them tonew disks spending a lot of time and effort.

On a hard disk based multiple redundant system,the problem would be easily resolved with manyadded advantages. Such a system would make atremendous difference in the work of the Archivespermitting us to store data hundreds of times faster,keeping them secure for years to come and allowingfor faster indexing of the huge amount of data.

This would also be the foundation of a true con-tent delivery system for Dzogchen CommunityMembers because from such a storage server, con-tents present on the disks could be easily com-pressed for the Web and made available, through aspecialized Web Server, to members throughout theworld.

The system would be designed and implementedby AmbientiWeb Consulting, and used and main-tained by SSI Archives Staff. If you would like to sup-port this truly important project, please contact us at:

info@istitutoshangshung.org

COURSES FOR 2006

Ku NyeAfter the successfulbeginning of our KuNye instructors '

courses in Russia, the activity continues with a courseplanned in Merigar in May with a follow up in Octoberand another course starting in Milan in October.

The structure of Ku Nye courses has been com-pletely changed and reframed: the Ku Nye courselasts 16 days if organized on the basis of intensiveseminars lasting ten days for the first part and sixdays for the second part, including the final diplomaexamination. If organized on the basis of week-ends,the whole course includes 9 seminars, because inten-sive courses allow students and teachers to workmore extensively.

Merigar: May 19th-28th first partFees: 1550, didactic materials includedOctober 3rd-8th second part, final exami-nation included. 1250Teacher: Patrizia PicciniMilan: The course starts in October andincludes 9 week-ends. 1120 per week-end,teaching materials included.Teacher: Daniela CrucittiMoscow: Second part of the intensivecourse which started in November.Teacher: Michele Corrado

Tibetan languageAn introducion to Tibetan language covering the

alphabet, pronunciation, spelling, basic vocabularyand sentence structure will be held in Merigar withour resident Tibetan Topgyal Gontse; there will belots of fun & plenty of practice! Promotional fee 1100Timetable: 10am-12pm & 2:30pm-4:30pm

After the successful experience of past courses,Elio Guarisco will lead two seminars in Merigardirected to anyone interested in approaching thestudy of spoken and written Tibetan (beginners) andto previous students who intend to deepen theirknowledge (intermediate level).

Dates: July 30 - August 5 for beginners.1250 August 6-12 for intermediate level stu-dents. 1250

For any further information, please contact:courses@istitutoshangshung.org,Tel.: +39-0564-966940

PRODUCTS

Audio / VideoHere’s a list of some of our most popular cd’s & dvd’sas well as the most recent digital remasters.

new! Amitayus (CD audio): a set of 2CDs by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu withexplanation and practice of the termateaching of this long life practice discov-

ered by Nyagla Pema Dundul. Conway,Massachusetts 1984. 120

Ganapuja (CD audio): remastered! a setof 2 CDs by Chögyal Namkhai Norbuwith explanation and practice, Merigar1991. 120

Guru Dragpur (CD audio): remastered! ChögyalNamkhai Norbu explains the practice of GuruDragpur, Merigar June 1993. 120

Guru Yoga of White A (CD audio): thepractice sung by Chögyal NamkhaiNorbu and repeated three times. Itincludes an extract of the 1985 teachings

in Nevada City. 112Ozer Chenma (CD audio): remastered! aset of 2 CDs by Chögyal Namkhai Norbuwith explanation and practice. Merigar,March 1992. 120new! Santi Maha Sangha: PreliminaryPractices of the Base (CD audio): AdrianoClemente performs the preliminarypractices in a private recording. 112Ati Lamgyi Ngöndro (MP3 audio):Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's teachingsgiven in Merigar, August 2002 plus anaudio CD of the practice led by Adriano

Clemente is included. Duration: 5 hours 49 min. 120Chöd (DVD): explanation of the practicegiven by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in Japanin 1993 (in English) and explanation of thepractice given in Merigar in 1990 (in

Italian). Practice guided by Chögyal Namkhai Norbuwith damaru and bell. Advice of Adriano Clemente(Merigar 1999). 125

Ganapuja (DVD): explanation of the prac-tice (New York 1994), practice of theGanapuja (Merigar 1998), instructions byAdriano Clemente on how to sing the

melodies. 125Garuda (DVD): explanation of the practice given byChögyal Namkhai Norbu in London in 1984.Drawings of the different seed syllables and of allmudras. 122Green Tara (DVD): explanation and practice given byChögyal Namkhai Norbu in Peru in the year 2002. 125

Mandarava (DVD): retreat in Singapore in1994. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu explains thepractice, the mudras, how to use vajra andbell, damaru and dadar. Explanation of

Chülen, breathing and the Ganapuja. 125Shitro (DVD): explanation of the practicegiven by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu inMerigar in August 2003, during a privaterecording. It contains images useful for visu-

alization. 125Three Tuns - Tundus, Tundrin and Tungyas (DVD):Chögyal Namkhai Norbu explains and practices thethree tuns. 125

Dance of the Vajra (DVD): Prima Maidemonstrates both male and female parts ofall three dances plus the Irregular Dance ofthe Three Vajras. 125

Yantra Yoga - First Level (DVD): demonstration per-formed by Laura Evangelisti; requires transmissionfrom the Master and attendance to one first levelcourse of Yantra Yoga. 122The Dzogchen Community Video Journal (DVD): a wayto feel more in touch with the community and seedevelopments in the various Gars. The Video Journal ispublished quarterly (every three months) and is avail-able by yearly subscription for 1100, includes postage.

Tibetan Medicine Food SupplementsThe Shang ShungInstitute continues theproduction of "food sup-

plements" made by a laboratory located in Arezzo inTuscany. They have proved to be very helpful sincethe very beginning. Some of the most appreciatedproducts are:

• Za Ti for agitation, nervousness, insomnia, torebalance rlung: two tablets after each meal and inserious cases two tablets before bedtime as well. 110.• She Shi for digestive problems, acidity, to improvedigestive heat. Not indicated in case of ulcers. 110• Padma 28 (Basic), ideal to improve blood circula-tion and the immunitary system, good preventionagainst brain stroke, heart stroke and cancer. 134• Calmalung: (rGun Brum 7) dry cough, bronchitis.127For more details and a complete list of these productssee our online website!

Printed MaterialsThangkha of GomadeviThe SSI has received theauthorization to reproduceposters of a beautiful thangkaof Gomadevi by Glenn Eddy.This painting is very specialbecause of the presence of theinner mandala. It constitutesa very useful support for theGomadevi practice transmit-

ted by Rinpoche twice in Margarita and once inArgentina so far. The poster and a smaller bookletsize version, will be available this June.Large: 15 small: 12

CONTACTS

Email:info@istitutoshangshung.org

Tel.: +39-0564-966940Fax.: +39-0564-968110Loc. Podere Nuovissimo58031 Arcidosso (GR)Italy

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 5

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Shang Shung Institute announces Summer 2006 Intensives and opens Tibetan Healing CenterConway, MA – The Shang Shung Institute of America is happy toannounce its Summer 2006 Intensives series and the opening of itsTibetan Healing Center in nearby Northampton. Under the directionof Dr. Phuntsog W angmo, the institute’ s Traditional T ibetanMedicine certification program, now in its second year, is the only full-time, four-year curriculum taught in the West and the first-of-its-kind inEnglish.

“Tibetan medicine is an ancient living knowledge that is beneficial formany modern diseases,” said Phuntsog Wangmo, director of theTraditional Tibetan Medicine certification program at the Shang ShungInstitute of America. “In today’ s society it is easy to become unbal-anced, and Tibetan medicine can ef fectively prevent and treat theseimbalances at both the mental and physical level. The Shang ShungInstitute is helping the future of Tibet by preserving our culture andmaking the wisdom if our ancient lineage available to the world. Thissummer’s courses of fer a foundational introduction to TraditionalTibetan Medicine for people who may later want to expand their stud-ies in our four-year program. All are welcome.”

Dr. Wangmo earned her advanced degree in Traditional TibetanMedicine from Lhasa University . Working on behalf of the ASIAorganization, she has helped set up hospitals and training centersthroughout her homeland.

Summer 2006 Intensives

Hosted at Tsegyalgar in beautiful Western Massachusetts, retreat-styleintensives of fer introductions to Traditional Tibetan Medicine withcourse credits that can later be applied toward the certification program.Taught by Tibetan-trained faculty , the Summer 2006 series includeslodging in a monk-style dormitory and a communal kitchen.

June 5-15 Introduction to Tibetan Medical History and Fundamental TheoryTaught by Dr . Yang Ga, Assistant Professor of Tibetan Medicine,Tibetan Medical College, Lhasa and Harvard PhD candidate

June 19-29Introduction to the Science of Tibetan AstrologyTaught by Dr. Chimed Rabten, Tibetan scholar and physician

July 9-16Health of Body, Mind & Spirit in Tibetan MedicineTaught by Dr . Kunchok Gyalsten, Tibetan physician and Buddhistmonk

Aug 21-26Kunye Massage Therapy: Level OneTaught by Dr . Phuntsog Wangmo, director of the Shang ShungInstitute’s Traditional Tibetan Medicine certification program

Intensives range from $375 to 500, and lodging and vegetarian-option-al meal plans are only $34 per day with discounts for both for institutemembers.

For complete course information, faculty bios and to apply online,please visit ShangShung.org. For other new student inquiries, pleasecall (413) 369-4928.

Tibetan Healing Center

The institute’s new Tibetan Healing Center in Northampton of fersKunye Massage Therapy as well as traditional consultations coveringdiet and lifestyle and of fering herbal and other therapeutic treatmentsfor a host of common imbalances and modern public health challenges.

Kunye Massage Therapy is unique to Traditional Tibetan Medicine.“Ku”, to anoint with oil, and “Nye”, to massage key points, is an ancienthealing practice that involves the application of prescribed medicinalherbs through specialized massage techniques that focus on muscles,nerves, tendons and other external body points. Dating back to 8th cen-tury texts, Kunye Massage Therapy has been proven effective for rangeof acute modern health issues including anxiety , insomnia, fatigue andother nervous system disorders.

Appointments for consultation and massage can be made by phone on(413) 585-1081.

Traditional Tibetan Medicine Certification Program

Founded at Tsegyalgar in 1994 by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu , theShang Shung Institute of America currently of fers the only full-time,four-year Traditional Tibetan Medicine certification program in theWest. The certification program, now in its second year , follows arecent revival of Traditional Tibetan Medicine in the East and marksone of the most significant advances for its preservation and practice inthe West.

The first-of-its kind in English, the innovative program is alreadyattracting new students from throughout Europe and the United States.Graduates will be among the first Western-trained certified practitionersand will help put the institute on the path of becoming the first fullyaccredited school of Traditional Tibetan Medicine in the West.

Beautiful Statues for Donations to Ka-ter Translation ProjectThe Shang Shung Institute, Austria, wants to of fer you some of the most beautiful Buddhist statutes youhave ever seen. These statues are not for sale! You can get them as a gift when you support the Ka-terTranslation Project of the Shang Shung Institute Austria! Each of these statues is of brilliant quality andbeauty, which is hardly found in the West. Each statue is unique, as the molds are used only once. Please have a look at our website where you can find some nice photos of the statues. http://www .ssi-aus-tria.at/ssi-engl/shop-engl-statues.htm for the English version or http://www .ssi-austria.at/shop-statuen.htmfor the German version.I hope that you enjoy our wonderful statues,

Very best wishes,Oliver LeickShang Shung Institute Austriawww.ssi-austria.at

continued on page 17

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 7

S p e c i a l P r a c t i c e C a l e n d a rF i r e D o g Y e a r s

2 0 0 6 – 2 0 0 7

PRACTICE CALENDARFOR THE FIRE DOG YEAR2006–2007

3rd – 7th TIBETAN MONTHS(May – September 2006)

GLOBAL TIMETABLE

ANNIVERSARY OFPADMASAMBHAVA6th Tibetan month – 10th dayCelebration at 8 a.m. Oddiyanatime.

Thursday 3rd August 2006

17:00 Hawaii20:00 San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver21:00 Denver, Salt Lake City, Pagosa Springs, Edmonton22:00 Lima, Quito, Chicago, Mexico City23:00 Caracas, San Juan, Santiago, New York, Conway, Montreal, Atlanta, Detroit,Havana, Kingston, Indianapolis,

Ottawa

Friday 4th August 2006

00:00 Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bermuda03:00 GMT, Reykjavic,04:00 London, Dublin, Lisbon05:00 Johannesburg,Rome, Berlin, Oslo, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Brussels, Geneva, Prague, Salzburg, Stockholm, Budapest, Vienna, Warsaw06:00 Kuwait City, Riyadh, Tashkent, Helsinki, Athens,Ankara, Beirut, Jerusalem, Tallinn, Vilnius, Istanbul07:00 Moscow, Murmansk,Baghdad08:00 ODDIYANA, Islamabad08:30 New Delhi, Bombay08:45 Kathmandu09:00 Dacca09:30 Rangoon10:00 Bangkok, Jakarta, Saigon11:00 Singapore, Beijing, Lhasa, Manila, Hong Kong,Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Perth12:00 Tokyo, Seoul,12:30 Darwin, Adelaide13:00 Brisbane,Melbourne, Sydney14:00 Vladivostok15:00 Fiji, Wellington,Auckland, Kamchatka

3rd Month, 4th day Mon. 1st May 2006

This is an important day for thepractice of Ekajati, so try to do aLong or Medium Thun in theusual way , reciting the heartmantra of Ekajati as many timesas possible.

3rd Month, 10th day Sun. 7th May 2006

This is a special day of GuruPadmasambhava. Those whohave received transmissionshould do a Guruyoga withPadmasambhava with the longlife mantra and a Ganapuja as weusually do, otherwise you can dothe long life practice “Universal

Wisdom Union”. If it is possible,the best time to do the Guruyogaand long life practice is in themorning between 7 and 8. Youcan do the Ganapuja later inthe afternoon. Usually the best way to dothe Ganapuja and theGuruyoga is collectively ,with your Vajra brothersand sisters, but if this isnot possible you canalways do this practicealone when you have time.The important thing is to tryto communicate with all practi-tioners linked to the same trans-mission so that you can developthe potentiality of the transmis-sion that you have received andthrough it your understanding andcapacity to integrate your dailylife in the state of contemplation.Those who have not received thetransmission of the Thun practicecan learn it from other practition-ers and then receive the transmis-sion when there is the opportuni-ty. Otherwise on this day thosewho have not received transmis-sion of the Thun practice can do apurification practice with breath-ing and Yantra Yoga exercisesand movements or practiceslinked to controlling the prana.

3rd month, 15th day Sat. 13th May 2006

FULL MOON. This is one of thebest days for long life practicesand in particular for the practiceof the “Union of PrimordialEssences”. It is best to do it earlyin the morning between 7 and8am if you can but if this isn’ tpossible you can do it in the after-noon or even in the evening whenyou are not busy . Today is alsothe anniversary of theKalachakra, the day whenBuddha Shakyamuni first gavethe teaching of Kalachakra so itis good to do a Ganapuja or LongThun in the evening either collec-tively or alone.

3rd Month, 25th day Mon. 22nd May 2006

Today is a Dakini day . It is alsothe anniversary of the Fifth DalaiLama, a great terton and practi-tioner of Dzogchen so it is a verybeneficial day to reinforce thefunction of our energy and createa more vital contact with the ener-gy of the universe. If you have thepossibility, it is good to do aGuruyoga of the White A in themorning and in the evening aGanapuja with an intensive prac-tice of Ekajati, repeating the heartmantra as many times as possi-ble. Otherwise you can do theMedium Thun with the practiceof Ekajati, repeating the heartmantra as much as possible. Thebest time for this practice isaround 8 in the evening.

3rdMonth, 30th day Sat. 27th May 2006

NEW MOON. Today is theanniversary of Sangyas Lingpa(1340-1396) a great terton andDzogchen master . You can do aGuruyoga of the White A from

thecycle ofteachings Universal Clarity witha Ganapuja. It is also a good dayto do the Purification of the SixLokas.

4th Month, 6 th and 8th days2nd & 4th June 2006

These are important days for thepractice of Ekajati so try to do aLong or Medium Thun with yourVajra brothers and sisters. If thatis not possible you can do theMedium Thun alone, reciting theheart mantra of Ekajati as manytimes as possible.

4th month, 7th day Sat. 3rd June 2006

This is the anniversary of thebirth of Buddha Shakyamuni, animportant day for all Buddhists,so try to a Ganapuja with yourVajra brothers and sisters.

4th Month, 10th day Tue. 6th June 2006

Today is the day of GuruPadmasambhava. In general youcan do the practice of theGuruyoga of Padmasambhava onthis day. If you have the possibil-ity and enough time you can do acollective Ganapuja with yourVajra brothers and sisters other-wise you can do the long lifepractice “ Union of Primo rdialEssences”.

4th Month, 15th day Sun. 11th June 2006

FULL MOON. This is theanniversary of the Paranirvana ofBuddha Shakyamuni as well asan important day for the long lifepractice “Cycle of Life’ s Vajra”.Therefore if you can, do the prac-tice of the Dakini Mandarava inthe morning (the best time isbetween 7 and 8 am) and a col-lective Ganapuja in the afternoonor evening according to your pos-sibilities.

4th Month, 24th day T u e .20th June 2006

This month there is no 25 th dayso today is Dakini day . It is alsothe anniversary of Ngor Chen (agreat master of the Shakyapa tra-dition and initiator of the Ngorlineage); therefore it is a good dayto do the Guruyoga of the WhiteA, Akar Lamai Naljor, collective-ly or alone.

4th Month, 30th day Sun. 25th June 2006

NEW MOON. T oday isthe anniversary ofNyagla Padma Dundul(1816-1872), one ofthe Masters of Chang-chub Dorje and themain Master ofNamkhai NorbuRinpoche. He discov-

ered the T erma“Tsedrub Gongdu”

which two of his disciples,Ayu Khandro and

Changchub Dorje, transmittedto Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche prac-ticed this method as much as pos-sible and started to transmit it tohis students after visiting thesacred cave at Maratika.Therefore try to do the long lifepractice “ Union of Primo rdialEssences” in the morning. In theafternoon or evening you can dothe Guruyoga of the White A,Akar Lamai Naljor , collectivelyor alone, with a Ganapuja if pos-sible.

5th Month, 1st day M o n .26th June 2006

This is the anniversary ofChogyur Lingpa (1829-1870) aNyingmapa Master of Dzogchen,one of the three most importantRimed masters of the 19th centu-ry. Try to do a practice of theGuruyoga of the White A, AkarLamai Naljor.

5th Month, 10th day Thu. 6th July 2006

Today is a special day of GuruPadmasambhava. In general youcan do the Guruyoga ofPadmasambhava practice on thisday. If you can, try to do aGanapuja collectively with yourVajra brothers and sisters, other-wise you can do the long lifepractice “ Union of Primor dialEssences”.

5th Month, 14th day M o n .10th July 2006

This is an important day for thepractice of Ekajati, so try to do aLong or Medium Thun collec-tively or alone, reciting the heartmantra of Ekajati as many timesas possible.

5th Month, 15th day Tue. 11th July 2006

FULL MOON. This is a specialday for the long life practice ofAmitayus, so you can do the longlife practice “Union of PrimordialEssences”. The best moment todo it is between 7 and 8 in themorning, if possible, either col-lectively or alone. If you can, tryto a Ganapuja as well.It is also the Dzamling Chisang(Lit. ‘smoke puja of the world ingeneral’) so if you know how todo it, you can do the Sanqod(Sangchod) in the morning.

5th Month, 25th day Thu. 20th July 2006

This is a Dakini day as well as animportant day for the practice ofEkajati, so try to do a Ganapuja ora Long Thun collectively withyour Vajra brothers and sisters, ora Medium Thun alone. In eithercase recite the heart mantra ofEkajati as many times as possible.

5th Month, 30th day Tue. 25th July 2006

NEW MOON. This is a day forpurification practices. It is best todo t he P urification o f t he S ixLokas either collectively or alone,preferably in the early morning.Otherwise you can do a Mediumor Short Thun or a Ganapuja.

6th Month, 4th day Sat. 29th July 2006

This is the anniversary of theDharmachakra (the first turningof the Wheel of the Dharma): thefirst time that BuddhaShakyamuni gave the teaching ofthe Four Noble Truths to his dis-ciples at Sarnath, after his illumi-nation. To honor the LordBuddha on this special day youcan do a Ganapuja with yourVajra brothers and sisters.

6th Month, 10th day Fri. 4th August 2006

Today is the anniversary of thebirth of Padmasambhava. On thisday when it is 8 am in OddiyanaChögyal Namkhai Norbu willgive the transmission ofGuruyoga with the specific prac-tice linked to the anniversary ofPadmasambhava. In this way thetransmission will be live becausethe transmission has no distance.Rinpoche will transmit andthroughout the world people whodo the practice at the samemoment will be in the transmis-sion and will thus receive thetransmission. (In Italy , this prac-tice will be done at 5 am.)It is also the anniversary of YesheTsogyal, the main consort anddisciple of Padmasambhava so itwill be beneficial to do aGuruyoga of Padmasambhavawith the long life mantra and aGanapuja as we usually do, other-wise you can do the long lifepractice “Union of UniversalWisdom”.

SEE THE GLOBALTIMETABLE

6th Month, 14th day Tue. 8th August 2006

This is the anniversary of theThird Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje(1284-1339), a disciple ofRigdzin Chenpo Kumaradza anda famous master of DzogchenUpadesha. On this day it is goodto do Akar Lamai Naljor ,Guruyoga with the White A, col-lectively or alone.

6th Month, 15th day Wed. 9th August 2006

FULL MOON. This is theanniversary of Gampopa, themain disciple of Milarepa,

continued on page 9

8

ARGENTINATashigar SudComunidad DzogchenTashigarCalle pública S/NTanti 5155Pcia. de CórdobaTel & Fax: 0054- 3541-498 356Email: tashigarsur@gmail.com

AUSTRALIANamgyalgar DzogchenCommunity in AustraliaVicki Forscutt - SecretaryPO Box 14 Central Tilba, NSW 2546 Tel/Fax: 61 02 4473 7668Email: namgyalg@acr.net.auWeb site: www.dzogchen.org.au

GarGeköes of NamgyalgarTel: 61(0)2 4473 7770Email: garnet@acr.net.au

AUSTRIAHomepage: www.dzogchen.at

Dzogchen Community ofVienna, AustriaEmail: dzogchen.wien@gmx.at

Peter SochorGötzgasse 2/10, A-1100Wien, AustriaTel: 0043 1 602 91 16

Dzogchen Community Austria,RegionsOliver F. LeickGschmaier 139, A-8265Gr.SteinbachTel/Fax: 03386-8571 or 0676-3221365Email: office@ssi-austria.at ,oliver1506@aon.at

BELGIUM Katia Lytridon 16, rue Paul Goedert L-3330 Crauthem LuxembourgTel: 352 366591

BRAZILDzogchen Community of BrazilSão PauloWeb site: www.dzogchen.com.br

General Contact:brazil@dzogchen.com.br

Blue Gakyil: Otavio Lilla –otavio@dzogchen.com.brRed Gakyil: Regina Marques –

regina@dzogchen.com.brYellow Gakyil: HeloísaPaternostro –helo@dzogchen.com.br

CANADAPeter Dimitrov VancouverEmail: pacrim@axion.netTel: (604) 684-4446

Tom & Bev Clarke312-6040 Iona Vancouver, B.C.V6T 2E8Tel: 604-827-0094Email: tom-bev9@juno.com

Eve-Marie Breglia107 Armadale Ave.Toronto, ONT M65-3X3Tel: 416 767 5252Email: chod@rogers.com

CHILELorena Hume

Marchant Pereira 1775A-22-Providencia. SantiagoTel: 056-2-474-4782Email: lorenahume@yahoo.com

CZECH REPUBLICDzogchen o.s.U Bozich Bojovniku 3Prague 2 Tel: +420 603 529 784Email: blue@dzogchen.czyellow@dzogchen.czred@dzogchen.czWeb site:http://www.dzogchen.cz

DENMARK Anne-Grethe NyengFax: 45 33 11 32 43Email: nyeng@mail.dk

ESTONIAEstonia:Svetlana Kollyakova Email: skol@eer.ee

FINLANDMika SillanpaaKuhankeittajankatu 2250190 MikkeliFinlandEmail: Mika.Sillanpaa@uku.fi

FRANCEAssociation DzogchenDejam Ling, Le DevesF30570 St Andre deMajencoulesTel: 33-(0)467824490Web site: www.association-dzogchen.org

GERMANYDzogchen Gemeinscaft c/o Helga BetzHelga BetzLindemannstr. 12D-40237 DüsseldorfTel+fax 49 (0)211 682657Email: office@dzogchen.deWeb site: www.dzogchen.de

Red gakyil: rot@dzogchen.deYellow gakyil:gelb@dzogchen.deBlue gakyil: blau@dzogchen.de

Oddiyana Shang Shung Edition:oddiyana@dzogchen.de

GREAT BRITAIN Amely Becker15A Langdon Park RoadLondon N6 5PSTel: 020 8348 6253Email: amely@globalnet.co.ukUK web site: www.redsand-stonehill.net/dzogchen/

GREECE Hellenic Dzogchen CommunityGeneral contact email address:info@dzogchen.grWeb site: www.dzogchen.gr

Individual members to contact inAthens:Alessandra Baniasco, (+30) 2108015419Dimitris & Anna Daskarolis,(+30) 210 3466861Nicholas Liber, (+30) 6977806369Panagiotis Stambolis, (+30) 6936866070Phannie Xenou, (+30) 6977630540

Individual members to contact in

Thessaloniki:Thanos & Dina Svoronos, (+30)2310 828183

HOLLAND Web site: www.dzogchen.nl(under construction)

Martin Landsman, GroningenEmail: mlandsman@planet.nlAnnalen Gall, Amsterdam <Email:annalen_gall@hotmail.com

HUNGARYZsolt Somogyvari Szalmarozsa ter 8.Budapest, H-1161Email: dzogchenhu@yahoo.com

ISRAELAlex Polak Tel: 00972-52-6020374 Email: polakalex@hotmail.com

Yael Rotbard Tel: 00972-52-2682291Email: bygy@zahav.net.il

ITALYMerigar* Comunita Dzogchen Secretary - Anna De SoleArcidosso, 58031 GR, Italy Tel: 39 0 564 968 837Fax: 39 0 564 968 110 Email:merigaroffice@tiscalinet.it

AdzomlingMoreno MarcatoVia Culasso 214053 CanelliAT 0141Tel: (39) 0141 831002

ZhenphenlingDzogchen Community of RomeVia G. Miani 500154 ROMETel. 0039 06 57300346Email: zhenphenling@tiscali.it

JAPANMs. Tsugiko Kiyohashi5-11-22-301 ShimomeguroMeguroku, Tokyo 153-0064Tel&fax (home): +81 3 37127507

LATVIAPadmalingGertrudes 5a, Riga, LV-1010Email: padmaling@dzogchen.ru

LITHUANIADorjeling Lithuanian CommunityDorjelingEmail: Lithuania@dzogchen.ru

Web site: www.dzogcenas.lt

Algis LukoseviciusArchitektu 176-44LT-04206 VilniusTel: +370-614-18056

LUXEMBOURGKatia Lytridou5, rue Joseph ProbstJunglinster L-6148

MALAYSIATham Wye Min 8669C Klebang Kechil 75200 Melaka Tel: 60 35 6162

Kwok Kee Chang 11-A Jalan Jujor, 1/5

Taman, Bakti Ampang Selangor, W. Malaysia Tel: 60 3 9847167

MEXICO Mexico City LingTabasco #67 (between Meridaand Frontera streets)Colonia RomaMexico CityTel: (011 52 55) 5511 0550

Carolyn Bass, Yellow Gakyilcbass@prodigy.net.mxAngela Mijares, Red Gakyil ang-iemaiden@hotmail.comMonica Patiño, Blue Gakyilmonica_patino@hotmail.comTel: 011 52 55 581 303153A Cerrada de Juarez #33-1Colonia Tinajas ContaderoMexico City 05370

Tsegyalgar West/Baja Gar

Scott Schroeder, GakyilPresidentEmail: ecobaja@prodigy.net.mxTel: 011 52 624 15 07407

Rodrigo VillalobosEmail: rodrigosky@hotmail.comTel: 011 52 624 14 77525

Baja Tsegyalgar WestJardin de los NaranjosApartado Postal 39523400 San Jose del Cabo, BCSEmail: rickmutch@yahoo.comTel: Skype name isbajagar_office

NEPALVikki FloydG.P.O. Box 8974CPC 069ThamelKathmanduRes.Tel: 00977-1-4270106(after 8.00 p.m.)Email: vikkifloyd@hotmail.com

NEW CALEDONIAAs. Dzogchen NC.378 rue Hypollite Passy98835 KoutioDumbeaNew CaledoniaTel: (687) 24 16 69Email: maclaigar@lagoon.nc

NEW ZEALAND NZ Dzogchen CommunityP.O.Box 90450Auckland CityEmail: nzgakyil@yahoo.co.nz

Paora Joseph Email: paora1@hotmail.com

Gabrielle KearneyEmail: rana@pl.net

NORWAYGordon Cranmer 4157 Utstein Kloster MosteroyTel: 47 4 514705

Community Web site:http://go.to/dzogchen.no

PERU Susana Belaunde Calle Teruel 341 Miraflores, Lima Email: subelaunde@yahoo.com

POLANDWspolnota Dzogczenul. Bruna 1/68

02-594 WarszawaEmail: dzogczen@dzogczen.pl

PaldenlingLysa Gora 16838-230 Nowy ZmigrodTel: 48 887957944Email: paldenling@wp.plWebsite: http://www.dzogczen.pl

Cezary WozniakUl. Emaus 3330-213 KrakowTel: 012/4252700, mobile609222211Email: cwozniak@bci.pl

PORTUGALVitor PomarFonte Salgada 713-Z8800 TaviraPortugalTel: 081 323780Email:vitorpomar@mail.telepac.pt

Lydia FerreraRua da Nazare 2Vila Facaia2560 Torres VedrasTel: 351 61 911235

RUSSIAN FEDERATION Kunsangar 142500 Russia, Moscow region,Pavlovskiy Posad, RUPS,a/ya13, BF DostoyanieSecretaryTel: 7 096 43 21156Tel: 7 095 740 79 98Email: kunsang@dzogchen.ru

Moscow DC RinchenlingEmail: rinchenling@dzogchen.ru

St. Petersburg DC Sangeling Email: sangyeling@mail.ru

Baikal DC NamselingContact person AlexanderVyaznetskovtsev: Email: yantra@buryatia.ru

Samara DC. Contact person Viktor Krecker: Email: krecker@samtel.ru

SERBIA/EX YUGOSLAVIAJelena ZagorcicVojvode Stepe 28011000 Beograd381 11 462555Email: ela.z@EUnet.yu

Ivana Radicevic KaramanOtona Zupancica 3611070 BelgradeTel: 381 11 604115Email: dakini@EUnet.yu

SINGAPORE1) Management Committee for-mat are:President - Edmund Tai KwokWah Email:mailto:edmundkwtai@yahoo.com.sgTel: (65)64811308,(65)96373010

Vice President - Michael FooSee JinEmail: mfoo@caribbean.com.sgTel: (65)96155886 ]

Secretary - Wong Hee KunEmail:frogwong@singnet.com.sgTel: (65)93672288 ]

i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i t y c o n t a c t s

continued on next page

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 9

Treasurer - Fan ChinEmail: fanchin@singtel.comTel: (65)96711138 ]

Vice Treasurer - Lee Chee TeongEmail: teong@starhub.net.sgTel: (65)91397862 ]

Committee Member - Ms SandraLee Siew HwanEmail: san138a@yahoo.comTel: (65)97928853 ]

Committee Member - Sam ChanTeng JiangEmail:chantengjiang581@msn.comTel: (65)81136131 ]

SOUTH AFRICAJerry Smith10 Dan Pienaar Ave.Florida North, Gauteng,South AfricaTel: 011 672 7250

Darryl van Blerk104 Park Road,Walmer EstateCape Town7925, South AfricaTel: 27-21-4470129Fax: 27-21-4221265 Email: zebrad@intekom.co.za

SPAIN Dzogchen Community, SpainApt. Postal 4622028028 Madrid

Lella Guidotti c/o Tenor Masini20 BajosBarcelona 08028Tel: 00 34 93 4111563 / Mobile639311640 Email: kungaa@wanadoo.es

SWEDENAlexander & PernillaDobronravoffUlrikedalsvagen 6i #201224 58 Lund, SwedenTel: 046 13 70 34 Mobile: 073 655 1968Email: pernilla_liedgren_dobron-ravoff@hotmail.com

SWITZERLANDSwiss German RegionPeter EiseneggerEmail: garuda@bluewin.chTel: 0041(0)419170245

Swiss French RegionFabienne Rey-DucEmail: farey68@hotmail.comTel: 0041(0)273232393

Swiss Italian RegionJulie Breukel MichelEmail: julie@lungta.chTel: 0041(0)917309991

TAIWANPeter C.Y. PanEmail: stupid@ms1.kcg.gov.tworstupid.pan@msa.hinet.net.

THAILANDGeoffrey Blake & LynneKlapecki33 Soi Lang Suan - Ploenchit RdBangkok 10330Tel: 66 (0)2255-5150Tel: 66 (0)2254-9061Email: gblake@mozart.inet.co.th

Alex SouterBangkokTel: 09 039 3992 or 02 742 1965

UKRAINEKiev DC, Ukraine kiev@dzogchen.ru

Donetsk DC, Ukraine donetsk@dzogchen.ru

Kharkov DC Karmaling, Ukraine karmaling@dzogchen.ru

USATsegyalgar EastEd Hayes -Secretary P.O. Box 277 Conway, MA 01341Tel: 413 369 4153 Fax: 413 369 4473 Email: secretary@tsegyalgar.orgGakyil: gakyil@tsegyalgar.org.Web site: www.tsegyalgar.org

AlaskaPeggy LeslieDzogchen Community of AlaskaPO Box 240063Douglas, AK 99824Tel: 907-364-2733

Pat MartinDzogchen Community of AlaskaPO Box 35805Juneau, AK 99803Tel: 907-780-6643

ChicagoLynn Sutherland5717 N. Washtenaw Ave.Chicago, IL 60659Tel: 773 784 4168Email: lynnsuth@aol.com

Dzogchen Community WestCoast Dondrup Ling2748 Adeline St. Suite DBerkeley, CA 94703Tel: 510 644 2260Email: aha@dzogchencommuni-tywest.orgWeb site: www.dzogchencom-munitywest.org

Miami, FloridaDzogchen Community in MiamiEmail: info@dzogchenmiami.orgWeb site: www.dzogchenmia-mi.org

Dominik NicevaTel. (1) 305-726-9035Email: ndominik@earthlink.net

Dzogchen Community of NewMexico Marta MacbethP.O. Box 9211Santa Fe, New Mexico87504Tel: 505-986-1573Email: rubystone1215@hot-mail.com

ColoradoLidian KingPO Box 1014Crestone, CO 81131Tel: 719 256 5263Email: lidian@fone.net

Kundrolling - New York City151 W. 30th St., #403, NYCTel: 212-564 1024Email: nycdzogchen@aol.com

New York City DzogchenCommunity c/o Jane Fulton220 East 72nd Street#20B New York, NY 10021Email: janefulton100@hotmail.c

Dzogchen Community of Hawaii c/o Leilani Sim-Godbehere, 48-495 Kamehameha Hwy., Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744 Tel: (808) 239-1165Email: simgod@hawaii.rr.comsunbear@aloha.net

Susan Indich 129 Kaelepulu Dr. KailuaHawaii, 96734 Tel: 808 261 3469 Fax: 808 524 4342Email: indichcoll@aol.com

Jerene81-1081 Keopuka Mauka Rd.Kealakekua Hi. 96750Tel: 808 323-9714Email: jerenela@hawaii.rr.com

Melinda Sacarob 87-3139 Mamalahoa Hwy.Capt Cook Hawaii 96704Tel: 808-328-9473

VENEZUELANorth Tashigar Gakyil:tashinor@gruposyahoo.com.ar

Tashigar NorteFinca TashigarProlongación de la Calle BolivarValle de Pedro González, Isla deMargaritaTel: 00 58 295 2580 332Email:secretary@tashigarnorte.org Web site: www.dzogchen-venezuela.org

Carmen RivasPO Box Apartado Postal 123Juan GriegoMargarita, VenezuelaEmail:marcarmenrivas@yahoo.com.ar

Pablo Lau Rivera Lhundrubgar Pba. Res.Pedermales Av. Paez Montalban II 1021 Caracas Tel: 58 2 4421434 Fax: 58 2 340643 Email: ablola@hotmail.com

Elias Capriles Apartado Postal 483Merida 5101 Tel & Fax: +58 274 2440026 Email: elicap@cantv.net

Merida Dzogchen CommunityApartado Postal 483Merida 5101 Fax: +58 274 2440026

founder of the Kagyupa Schooland author or “The PreciousOrnament of Liberation”. It is,therefore, an excellent day to doAkar Lamai Naljor, the Guruyogawith the White A. It is also goodto do the long life practice “Unionof Primordial Essences” of GuruAmitayus and, if possible, aGanapuja.

6th Month, 25th day Fri. 18th August 2006

This is a Dakini day, so it is a pos-itive day for reinforcing the func-tion of our ener gy and creating avital contact with the ener gy ofthe universe by doing a Ganapujawith our Vajra sisters and broth -ers. If there are no other practi-tioners nearby you can do aMedium Thun on your own. Ineither case, when you transforminto the Dakini Simhamuka,recite her heart mantra as manytimes as possible.

6th Month, 30th day Wed. 23rd August 2006

NEW MOON. This is a veryimportant day to do purificationpractices, especially the“Purification of the Six Lokas”.If you have the chance, you canalso do a short or Medium Thunor a G anapuja, c ollectively o ralone.

7th Month, 10th day Sun. 3rd Sept. 2006

It is a special day of GuruPadmasambhava as well as theanniversary of Jomo Memo(1248-1283), a famous yogini,terton and reincarnation of YesheTsogyal and consort of the tertonGuru Chowang. Therefore it is anideal day to do Akar LamaiNaljor, the Guruyoga of theWhite A, and a Ganapuja, if youhave the possibility.

7th Month, 15th day Thu. 7th Sept. 2006

FULL MOON AND PARTIALLUNAR ECLIPSE. This is theanniversary of Tsarchen LosalGyatso and Padma Karpo, afamous 17th century DrugpaKargyupa Master. Therefore it isan excellent day to do the longlife practice of the DakiniMandarava, “Cycle of Life’ sVajra”, with a Ganapuja if possi-ble as well as Akar Lamai Naljor,the Guruyoga of the White A col-lectively with your Vajra brothersand sisters or alone.

7th Month 19th day Mon. 11th Sept. 2006

This is an important day for thepractice of Ekajati, so try to do along or Medium Thun in the usualway, reciting the heart mantra ofEkajati as many times as possible.

7th Month, 25th day Sun. 17th Sept. 2006

This is a Dakini day and also theanniversary of Phagmo Drugpa(1110-1170), the chief disciple ofGampopa. Try to do a Ganapujatogether with your Vajra sistersand brothers. If there are no otherpractitioners nearby, you can do aMedium Thun on your own. Ineither case, when you transformyourself into the DakiniSimhamuka, recite her heartmantra as much as possible andthen do an intensive practice ofEkajati.

7th Month, 30th day Fri. 22nd Sept. 2006

DARK MOON AND ANNU-LAR SOLAR ECLIPSE. Thisday is ideal for purification prac-tices. Try to do either thePurification of the Six Lokas orthe Namchos Shitroi Naljyor, theYoga of the Peaceful andWrathful Manifestations, eithercollectively or on your own. Tryto do a Ganapuja as well, if possi-ble.

international community contacts con’t. from previous page Special Practices continued from page 7

If you have any corrections on the

international contactslist, please contact

mirror@tsegyalgar.orgthank you,

the mirror staff

?

GEORGE QUASHARECEIVES GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP AWARD, 2006

Artist and poet Geor ge Quasha of Barrytown, New York is amongthose named to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2006, the onlyaward this year in video art among the 187 awards in 78 dif ferentfields. Mr . Quasha, who has previously received a NationalEndowment for the Arts Fellowship in poetry , also works in othermediums as well – performance art, drawing, and sculpture, the lat-ter the subject of his forthcoming book, Axial Stones: An Art ofPrecarious Balance, Foreword by Carter Ratclif f (North AtlanticBooks: Berkeley), due out in July.

George has taught at Stony Brook (SUNY), Bard College, the NewSchool, and Naropa University . With Susan Quasha he isfounder/publisher of Barrytown/Station Hill Press in Barrytown, NewYork.

“I met Rinpoche in my mind in San Francisco in 1986 when I wasthere with my wife Susan. Steve Goodman gave me the Communitypublished version of The Cycle of Day and Night (which we laterpublished under Station Hill Pr ess), and I r ead it immediately . Thenext morning in the bathroom getting ready to leave I suddenly saw inmy mind all the teachers I’d ever had (including Chögyam T rungpa,t’ai chi teachers, etc.) and understood what I had gotten fr om each,and suddenly I saw Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. I realized instantly andunequivocally that I had found my teacher . I told Susan and Steve,who seemed a bit dubious, and Steve told me Rinpoche would be com-ing to Conway one day soon. A few months later I went to Conway ,entered the tent in back of the old house, and knew that that was that- beyond any doubt. It’s been that way every minute ever since.”

George Quasha

Barrytown/Station Hill Press, Inc. (The Institute for Publishing Arts, Inc.)124 Station Hill Road, Barrytown, NY 12507Tel: (845) 758-5293http://www.stationhill.org

10

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

C O M M U N I T Y N E W SCALENDAR OF EVENTSAT THE MERIGAR WEST COMMUNITYMay - December 2006

The Tibetan letter A indicates events that are particularly indicated for those having theirfirst contact with the Dzogchen Teaching.For people who are genuinely interested in the Teaching, it is indispensable to meet theMaster. This is possible by following one of his Teaching Retreats or by participating in oneof the worldwide Direct Transmission days.Regarding the webcasts, we would like to specify that the term “closed webcast” means thatin order to be able to access it, one must be a member , while “open webcast” indicates thatit is a teaching that can be accessed by anyone directly through the Internet. However inorder to follow the Teachings at a Gar or a Ling of the Dzogchen Community , it is indis-pensable to have a membership card.

MAY

Sun. 30 of April – Sat. 6 MayChögyal Namkhai Norbu

A Audio and video webcast of the Longsal teaching r etreat. Preliminaries of the path of Ati on the Purification of the Six LokasTashigar North, Margarita(Open webcast)The retreat starts daily at 22.00. (at 16.00 on the last day)

Fri. 5 – Sun. 7 MayA Guided practice of the Purification of the Six Lokas

The retreat starts on Friday 5th at 16.00

Thu. 11 - Sun. 14 MayA Six Spaces of Samantabhadra Vajra Dance course for beginners

Led by a local instructor under the supervision of Prima MaiThe course starts on Thursday May 11 at 16.00.Cost 120 Û, with discounts for members.

Mon. 15 MayDay of intensive practice of the Six Spaces of Samantabhadra Vajra DanceThose who have Dance costumes are invited to wear them.

Wed.17 - Sun. 21 MayIn-depth course of the Three Dances of the Vajra, together with the Jñanadhakkini practiceThe course is only open to those who have alr eady received transmissionTsegyalgar, Crimea and Merigar 2005) and par ticipants should know thebasic steps and arm movements Participation is limited to 6 pawo (males) and 5 pamo (females)Led by Prima MaiThe course starts on Wednesday May 17 at 16.00.Cost 200 Û, with discounts for members.Those who have Dance costumes are invited to wear them.It is indispensable to book sufficiently in advance.

JUNE

Fri. 2 - Mon. 5 JuneCourse on Breathing and KumbhakaLed by Fabio AndricoThe course starts on Friday June 2 at 17.00.Cost 160 Û, with discounts for members.

Fri. 9 - Thu. 15 JuneA Retreat at Merigar with Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu on the Longsal

Teaching of Yeshes Zangthal and the Transmission of Nadzer(The retreat will be transmitted by closed webcast)The retreat starts in the afternoon of Friday June 9. Cost 350 Û, with discounts for members.

Mon. 12 JuneChildren’s SMS Base and First Level examsWith Chögyal Namkhai NorbuAt 17.00

Tue. 13 JuneChildren’s SMS TeachingWith Chögyal Namkhai NorbuAt 17.00

Sun. 18 JuneCelebration of the 25th anniversary of Merigar

Tue. 20 - Sun. 25 JuneSong of the Vajra Dance course for beginners

m e r i g a r w e s tDzogchen Community in Italy

Arcidosso 58031GR Italy

Tel: 39 0564 966 837Email: merigaroffice@tiscalinet.it

Web site: www.dzogchen.it

First part (from Emakirikiri up to Kelanam)Led by Adriana Dal BorgoThe course starts on Tuesday June 20 at 16.00.Cost 240 Û, with discounts for members.

Mon. 19 – Sat. 24 JuneSecond Level Yantra Yoga Teachers’ Training courseLed by Laura Evangelisti and Fabio AndricoThe course starts on Monday June 19 at 17.00.Cost 240 Û.

Sun. 25 – Tue. 27 JuneYantra Yoga Course for Advanced Students5th series of Yantra Led by Laura EvangelistiThe course starts on Sunday 25th at 10.00Cost 120 Û, with discounts for members.

JULY

Wed. 28 June – Tue. 4 JulySong of the Dance of the Vajra Course for Beginners(from Sambharatamekacantapa to Ra Ra Ra)Led by Adriana Dal BorgoThe retreat starts on Wednesday 28 July at 16.00Cost 280 Ûwith discounts for members

Fri. 7 – Wed. 12 JulyTraining course for Teachersof Dance of the Vajra 1st LevelLed by Adriana Dal Borgo and Prima MaiThe course starts on Friday 7 July at 10.00 Cost 240 Û

Tue. 11 JulySang Practice – 9am

Wed. 12 – Sat. 15 JulyGreen Tara Explanation and Practice Retreat with Yuchen Namkhai and Costantino Albini

A The retreat starts on Wednesday 12 July at 10.00Cost 160 Û, with discounts for members.

Tue. 18 – Fri. 21 JulyA Intensive Yantra Yoga Retreat for Beginners

First Part – on the Preliminaries of Yantra YogaLoosening the joints, 8 movements, purification breathing and rhythmic breathing Led by Laura EvangelistiThe course starts on Tuesday 18th at 17.00Cost 160 Û with discounts for members

Sun 23 – Thu 27 JulyA Intensive Yantra Yoga Retreat for Beginners

Second Part – 1st and 2nd series (yantras & pranayamas)Led by Laura EvangelistiThe course starts on Sunday 23 at 17.00Cost 200 Û with discounts for members

AUGUST

Thu. 3 – Mon. 7 AugustYantra Yoga Course for Advanced StudentsVariations of Yantra (1st, 2nd and 3rd series and pranayamas)Led by Laura EvangelistiThe course starts on Thursday 3 at 17.00Cost 200 Û, with discounts for members.

Thu. 3 August A Explanation of the Garab Dorje Guru Yoga Practice

at 17.00

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 11

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

C O M M U N I T Y N E W S

Fri. 4 AugustA Worldwide Transmission of Guru Yoga,

on the occasion of the Anniversary of Master Padmasambhava,with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu at 5.00

Wed. 9 – Tue. 15 AugustA Audio and video webcast of the retreat at

Merigar East Crimea or Merigar WestWith Chögyal Namkhai Norbu(The venue for the Teaching Retreat has not yet been confirmed)

Tue. 22 – Thu. 24 AugustSMS First Level Exam

Fri. 25 – Tue. 29 AugustSMS Second Level TrainingWith Chögyal Namkhai NorbuReserved for those who have passed the First Level examCost 250 Û

Fri. 18 – Wed. 23 August Explanation and practice retreat of the Tsalung of Mandarava and the Tantric Practices of the SMS First Level

AUGUST

Thu. 3 – Mon. 7 AugustYantra Yoga Course for Advanced StudentsVariations of Yantra (1st, 2nd and 3rd series and pranayamas)Led by Laura EvangelistiThe course starts on Thursday 3 at 17.00Cost 200 Û, with discounts formembers.

Thu. 3 August A Explanation of the Garab Dorje Guru Yoga Practice

at 17.00

Fri. 4 AugustA Worldwide Transmission of Guru Yoga,

on the occasion of the Anniversary of Master Padmasambhava,with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu at 5.00

Wed. 9 – Tue. 15 AugustA Audio and video webcast of the retreat at

Merigar East Crimea or Merigar WestWith Chögyal Namkhai Norbu(The venue for the Teaching Retreat has not yet been confirmed)

Tue. 22 – Thu. 24 AugustSMS First Level Exam

Fri. 25 – Tue. 29 AugustSMS Second Level TrainingWith Chögyal Namkhai NorbuReserved for those who have passed the First Level examCost 250 Û

Fri. 18 – Wed. 23 August Explanation and practice retreat of the Tsalung of Mandarava and the Tantric Practices of the SMS First LevelReserved for those who have received directly or by webcast the Transmission of the Tsalung of Mandarava and who have passed the SMS Base Exam.Led by Elio GuariscoThe retreat starts on Friday 18 August at 16.00Cost 240 Û with discounts formembers

SEPTEMBER

Thu. 31 August – Sun. 3 SeptemberA Course on how to construct a Namkha

Led by Liane GrafThe course starts on Thursday 31 September at 16.00Cost 120 Û, with discounts formembers.

Sun. 1 – Fri. 6 SeptemberSong of the Dance of the Vajra Course for Advanced StudentsLed by Adriana Dal BorgoThe retreat starts on Sunday 1 September at 16.00Cost 240 Û, with discounts formembers.

Wed. 4 – Fri 6 SeptemberKumar – Kumari Yantra Course for Yantra Yoga Teachers and Practitioners(For those who like to learn how to teach Kumar- Kumari Yantra to children)Led by Laura EvangelistiThe course starts on Wednesday 4 at 17.00Cost 120 Û, with discounts formembers.

Fri. 8 – Sat. 16 SeptemberA Dzogchen Teaching Retreat at Merigar

With Chögyal Namkhai Norbu(teaching to be announced)The retreat starts in the afternoon of Friday 8 SeptemberCost 450 Û with discounts formembers (open to all)

Wed. 20 – Sun. 24 SeptemberAdvanced course of the Dance of the Vajra - the Six Spaces of Samantabhadra & the Dance of the 3 Vajras, regular & irregularLed by Prima MaiThe course starts on Wednesday 20 SeptemberCost 200 Û with discounts formembers

OCTOBER

Fri. 6 - Sun. 8 OctoberSMS First Level Explanation and Practice RetreatLed by Jim ValbyThe retreat is reserved for those who have passed the Base Level examCost 120 Û, with discounts formembers.

Fri. 13 – Sun. 15 OctoberYantra Yoga 1st Level Course of Explanation and PracticeLed by Tiziana Gottardi and Sergio QuarantaThe course starts on Friday 13 October at 16.00.Cost 120 Û, with discounts formembers.

Wed.18 - Sun. 22 OctoberDance of the Song of the Vajra Course for Advanced StudentsLed by Prima MaiThe course starts on Wednesday October 18 at 4pmCost 200 Û, with discounts formembers.

Thu. 26 – Mon. 30 OctoberAudio and video Webcast from Barcelona of the Teaching RetreatOn the "Longsal Ati'i Gongpa Ngotrod” Upadesha of introduction to the State of Ati With Chögyal Namkhai Norbu(Closed webcast)

Sat. 28 – Sun. 29 OctoberSeminar led by Barry SimmonsThe seminar starts on Saturday 28 October at 10.00Cost 80 Û, with discounts formembers.

NOVEMBER 2006

Wed. 15 NovemberAt 10.00

A Explanation of the Padmasambhava Guru Yoga PracticeAt 13.00Audio and video webcast of the Worldwide Transmission of Guru YogaOn the occasion of the anniversary of Master Adzom Drugpawith Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Sat. 25 – Sun. 26 NovemberIntensive retreat of Chöd practiceThe retreat starts on Saturday 25 November at 10.00

DECEMBER 2006

Fri. 8 DecemberChögyal Namkhai Norbu’s birthday

Fri. 8 – Sun. 10 DecemberIntensive practice retreatLonglife Practice of the Dakini Mandarava

Tue. 26 Dec. – Mon. 7 January 2007Audio and video webcast from Tashigar South, ArgentinaOf the Teaching Retreat on “Ati'i Gongpa Ngotrod: UpadeshaOf the introduction to the State of Ati”With Chögyal Namkhai Norbu(closed webcast)

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I N T E R N A T I O N A LC O M M U N I T Y N E W S ACCOMMODATION SERVICE AT MERIGAR

INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE WHO INTEND TO COME TO MERIGAR FOR RETREATSOR TO FOLLOW COURSES

If you are looking for accommodation, airport transfer , local car hire or only logistic assistance, youcan contact the following information and reservation service:

Accommodation Service

(Information available in English, German, French and Italian) Information service and reser-vation of accommodation during retreats, local transport, & logistic solutions:

Christina von GeispitzheimEmail: accomodationservice@libero.itTel: 0039 0564 957542Mobile phone: 0039 339 1370739

We cooperate with local hotels, family pensions, residences, agriturismo, Community members whohave rooms or houses to rent or sublet. Also we can advise on car rental (at airports or locally), onthe best itinerary and time tables of trains and buses, and we have now a circuit of residents whooffer various useful services like transfer from the airports, local taxi service, translations, baby sit -ting, etc.

SUMMER ACCOMMODATION AT MERIGARThe Merigar Dormitory is fully booked for the summer . For cheaperaccommodation there are two camping places:

Camping Residence AmiataCastel del Piano (6 km from Merigar)Tel: +39 0564 956260 /+390564 955107Email: info@amiata.orgWeb cast: www.amiata.org

Camping Lucherino (with swimming pool)Monticello Amiata (15 km from Merigar)Tel: +390564 992975 0564 992975Email: meichu@tiscalinet.itWeb site: www.campinglucherino.com

All the best,Anna De SoleMerigar Office

e u r o p e

GAKYIL OF KUN SAL LING (BRESCIA) ITALY

Blue: Sebastiano Porreca (Nino): sebastiano.porreca@tiscali.it,Yellow: Alberto Benassa: benassa@med.unibs.it,Red: Roberto Lonati: roblonaz@yahoo.it,Responsible for personal retreats at Kun Sal Ling: Fulvio Ferrari:fulgidi@tele2.it .

D R E A M Y O G A I N F R A N C EJ U LY 5 - 6 , 2 0 0 6Dejam Ling, France

DREAM YOGA AND PRACTICE OF THE NIGHT2-DAY WORKSHOP WITH MICHAEL KATZ

The teacher approved by Rinpoche and who wrote the introduction of Rinpoche ‘sbook “Dream Yoga”.

Schedule: 10am to 04pmCost of this workshop: DonationsAccommodation in Dejamling is available:Dormitory: 7 euros/dayCamping: 5 euros/day

There is also the Mandala for the Vajra Dance practice.Please send your registration to lorraine.gaultier@wanadoo.fr

Hope to see you in Dejamling this summer,French Gakyil

NEW GAYKIL OF ESTONIABlue:Andres Zelmin zelmin@hot.eeRed:Maaja Zelmin zelmin@hot.eeYellow:Mart Viires viires@hot.ee

NEW SWISS GAKYIL FOR 2006

Blue: Paola SteinerYellow: Fabienne Rey-DucRed: Per Bebie

Secretary: Per Bebie

On March 3-5, 2006 the Polish Dzogchen Community invited V ajra Dance instructor Mar gitMartinu to teach the Vajra Dance of Three Vajras.

THE GAKYIL OF THE GREEK DZOGCHEN COMMUNITY IS:

Blue: Dimitris Daskarolis, blue@dzogchen.grRed: Nikos Liberopoulos, liber@up2u.grYellow: Phannie Xenou, fan99@in.gr

EVENTS BOOKLET FOR KUNSELLING, UK @ www.dzogchencommunity.org

The UK Community has just published the 2006 events booklet forKunselling. You can see and download it online at:

www.dzogchencommunity.org

We hope to see you here to enjoy this wonderful place soon!

All the best,

The UK Gakyil

BORNThursday, April 6 at 3.54am, a3rd daughter weighing 4.5 kilos,Arnica Rosa-Linde, was born tothe Plugge family at home inHolland.

p a s s a g e s

A SKURA

A SKURA

April 8-18, 2006, in Paldenling, Poland, we held the first training of Santi Maha Sangha 1st level, ledby Igor Berkhin from Ukraine. The Slovak and Polish Dzogchen Communities or ganized the retreatjointly. Fifteen people participated from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy and Mexico.

P a s s a g e s

DIEDTANYA NAUMENKOTanya Naumenko, our Vajra sister and Rinpoche’stranslator in Russia since 1992, died on April 26at 19.30 GMT.Rinpoche’s student since his first visit to Russia,Tanya was a main translator at all Rinpoche’ sretreats in Russia during 90’s. She had translated into Russian and edit-ed dozens of Rinpoche’ s book as well as other books on Dharma andwas a coordinator of Russian Publication Committee. She always was agreat source of inspiration and instructions for many young RussianBuddhist translators.

TSEGYALGAR EAST EVENTSSUMMER 2006* July 7-9 : Retreat with Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche atConway Gonpa, Massachusetts, sponsored by the Sanghaof Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. For more information pleasecontact Tom Lesser at <cnrteachings@yahoo.com>.

* July 19-25 : Mandarava Practice Retreat with NinaRobinson on the land at Khandroling in Buckland,Massachusetts.

At this weekend retreat, we will be guided in the Short &Long Mandarava Practices together with mudras, use ofinstruments, making of the dadar , application of ChüdlenPractice, etc. Nina Robinson is a long-time student ofChögyal Namkhai Norbu, and has been asked by Rinpocheto lead Mandarava practice retreats.

This retreat is open to all who have received transmission from Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, including byWorld Wide Transmission or by web cast.

The cost is $200, membership discounts apply.

*August 5-25 : Santi Maha Sangha Base and Level One Retreats with Jim Valby, at Khandroling inBuckland, Massachusetts.

August 5-8 & 10-13: Base level SMSAugust 15-18 & 20-25: Level One SMS

During each of these retreats there will be four sessions per day , with a day of f on the fifth day . Eachretreat will also include sessions of the Vajra Dance and Yantra Yoga training led by qualified instructors.

The Base level retreats are open to all who have received transmission from Chögyal Namkhai Norbuincluding World Wide Transmission or by web cast.

The Level One retreats are open only to those who have passed the SMS Base level exam. The cost is$800 for a full retreat, $60/day, or $20/session. Membership discounts apply.

Contact: secretary@tsegyalgar.org or 413 369 4153

Tsegyalgar WestBaja Mexico

Dzogchen Community WestCoast

755 Euclid Ave.Berkeley, CA 94708

USAEmail: cbass@prodigy.net.mx

carolmfields@aol.com

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 13

I N T E R N A T I O N A LC O M M U N I T Y N E W S

m e r i g a re a s t

t s e g y a l g a r e a s t & w e s tTsegyalgar, Dzogchen Community inAmerica,PO Box 277 Conway, MA 01341Tel: 413-369-4153 Fax: 413-369-4473Email: secretary@tsegyalgar.orgWeb site: www.tsegyalgar.org

Santi Maha Sangha First Level Practice Retreatwith Jim ValbyMay 28 – June 6, 2006St. Petersburg, Russia

There will be a Santi Maha Sangha retreat lead by Jim Valby andaccompanied by Yantra Yoga practice with Viktor Krachkovskiy inSt. Petersburg (Russia). The price, depending on the number of participants, is approximately85 euros for ordinary members. Sustaining and meritorious membersfor free. The retreat of SMS 1st level is for those who passed the BaseLevel exam & the 1st Level Training of Santi Maha Sangha. It is nec-essary that each registrant has been a continuous member since theirSMS Base level examination.The retreat will be outside of the city in the beautiful place - camp“Dubky” (about 50 km N from the Saint Petersbur g).Accommodation - 15 euro per day per person in double rooms(breakfast, dinner and supper are included). More comfortable doublerooms - 22 euro per day per person.

HOT WEATHER PIONEERS NEEDED ATBAJA THIS SUMMERSome of us crave hot weather (80s and 90s Fahrenheit), don’ t mindsome humidity, and get along with the other creatures that also preferthe heat. At the Baja, Mexico Gar , we could use one or two loungelizards to hold the fort this summer. Some work would also be appre-ciated—gardening, of fice, paths, shopping (swimming included),cooking, painting, chatting with neighbors, etc. Most appreciated ofall would be hospitality (we are getting more and more visitors) andthe ability to speak Spanish.

Particularly needed: Pioneers for June through mid-September(could start in May). The summer weather becomes challengingaround mid-June. But for some people, it’ s perfect, and that’ s whowe’re looking for. It’s a more relaxed time at the Gar, with more timeto meditate and explore. We would prefer people with some experi -ence in rural sites.

Please contact: carolmfields@aol.com

JIM VALBY’S SUMMER AND AUTUMNSCHEDULE2006July 1-2, Dzogchen Semde Study at TsegyalgarEmail: secretary@tsegyalgar.org

July 7-16, SMS First Level at Dejamling, FranceEmail: stoffelina@wanadoo.frEmail: lorraine.gaultier@wanadoo.fr

August 5-13, SMS Base at Tsegyalgar, MA, USAEmail: secretary@tsegyalgar.org

Aug 15-23, SMS First Level at Tsegyalgar, MA, USAEmail: secretary@tsegyalgar.org

October 6-8, SMS First Level at Merigar West, ItalyEmail: antje@wineandchianti.comEmail: merigaroffice@tiscalinet.it

Jim Valby’s Visit to New York City

Over the weekend of April 21-23 at Kundrolling, in the heart of New York City, 30 practitioners from the NewYork Dzogchen Community came together for an inspiring retreat with Jim Valby. He shared instruction andinsight into the Santi Maha Sangha Base Level Practice. The Santi Maha Sangha is a course of nine levelsdesigned by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu to deepen the experience and understanding of Sutra, Tantra, andDzogchen through study, reflection, and practice. Rinpoche has recommended that all those seriously inter -ested in Dzogchen familiarize themselves with the Base of the Santi Maha Sangha. Jim provided instructions& practices to aid understanding in order to enter the Dzogchen Transmission. The retreat was open to allpractitioners who had attended a retreat with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, or who had participated in one of thethree universal transmissions. We are delighted to announce that Jim has promised to return later this year toprovide another SMS weekend retreat of wisdom and guidance. Jane Fulton for The Mirror

L MATTHEWS

We are happy toannounce the birth ofSimone Azzolini at19.25 of the 17th ofMarch 2006, into ourVajra Family . Simonewas born in Italy nearMerigar.Rasa, Salvatore &Vaiva Azzolini

p a s s a g e s

14

I N T E R N A T I O N A LC O M M U N I T Y N E W S

Dear Sangha,

The Tsegyalgar Bookstore is excited to report that weare now selling smaller packages of our famousKhandru incense.

The smell of the new incense has been best describedas a mix between the peaceful and wrathful.

The small packages are only $6.00 and the item num-ber is “khandru-small”.

Also, in honor of the Shang-Shung Institute ofAmerica’s new Tibetan Medicine Four Year Programtaking place in the Yellow Schoolhouse directly across the hall fromthe Tsegyalgar Bookstore, we are now carrying beautifully packagedTibetan Medicine-themed note cards and knowledge cards.

Tibetan Medicine Note Cards#3000$15.00These note cards are reproduced fromillustrations in a seventeenth-centurycommentary on the Four Tantras, anancient medical text of uncertain ori-gin. That commentary - often referredto as the Blue Beryl treatise - togetherwith the Four Tantras, form the basisof traditional Tibetan medicine, whichbrings together cosmic, meteorological, physiological, and pathologi-cal phenomena in a rationally ordered conceptual framework.

Twenty 5 x 7” blank note cards (five each of four styles) with whiteenvelopes in a decorative box. Each card has an essay about the art-work on the back.

Tibetan Medicine Knowledge Cards#3001$25.00The paintings reproduced in this deck are illustrations from a seven-teenth-century commentary on the ‘Four Tantras,’ an ancient medicaltext of uncertain origin. Together, the Blue Beryl treatise and the FourTantras form the basis of traditional Tibetan medicine.

Twenty-eight full-color 7 1/4 X 8 5/8” cards (color on both sides),with 4-page pamphlet introducing the fundaments of Tibetan Buddhistmedicine, the history of Tibet’s primary teaching texts, and the cre-ation and subsequent rocky history of the Blue Beryl. Cigar box flip-top style packaging; size: 7 9/16 X 9”.

You can buy these items online at our store at:www.tsegyalgar.org/bookstore/bookstore.html

As always, you can also order these products by contacting me direct-ly by phone, fax, mail, or email.

Thanks!

Anna BartensteinTsegyalgar BookstoreP.O. Box 82 Conway, MA 01341413-369-4473 (Ph/Fax)Email: bookstore@tsegyalgar.org

Building with Earth in BajaCollaborating to build LumbiniGardens first structure

In January 2006, nine months afterRinpoche’s visit to Lumbini Gardens, agroup of 12 shareholders gathered to buildour first structure, an Earthbag dome. Lumbini Gardens is an intentional commu-nity of Dzogchen Community membersdeveloping a residential community near thewonderful Baja Gar land. Presently thecommunity’s Vision Statement reads in part:“We are a spiritual community, based on theDzogchen teachings of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, integrating personal spiritual growth among ourselves andpositive interactions with nature and local communities. We are committed to being present, to support eachother in our practice and through all stages of living and dying; to act with authenticity , joy, respect, under-standing, compassion, kindness, patience, wisdom and knowledge, without judgment”. For more information,Mirror readers can go to www.lumbinigardens.org.Currently, Lumbini Gardens consists of 16 acres of land, the entire property is zoned for agriculture; 10 acreswill be used for gardens and the remaining 6 acres will be for small residences. Most members intend to par -ticipate in the building of their own residences hence the group is in the process of investigating various alter-native building materials and techniques. Since we have access to a lot of earth, it seemed natural for us toexplore using earth for building. To that end, a group of Lumbinians went to Southern California to receivetraining from Nader Khalili, an architect whose life work is the development of low-cost, af fordable andstrong houses. Mr . Khalili has developed a technique known as Super Adobe, which uses stabilized earthinside polypropylene bags as the principle building material. In tests conducted by independent agencies over-seen by the California Building authorities Mr . Khalili’s Earthbag domes passed the highest earthquake rat-ings and are fire proof and highly flood resistant… and very low cost. Also, because the earthen walls havetremendous thermal mass, they keep out heat and cold very ef ficiently. If other members in the worldwideDzogchen Community are interested in this approach for building low-cost housing they can get more infor -mation at www.calearth.org.Our intention for our first building was to learn how to use the materials and to build a small building for gar-den and farm tools. We decided to build a 10-foot diameter dome; it is also possible to build many otherdesigns with different shapes and dif ferent roofs. In the Earthbag Building book, written by students of Mr .Khalili, they’ve developed the FQSS formula for building. It needs to be FUN, QUICK, SIMPLE ANDSTRONG. We can say without hesitation that collaborating with our group on an actual project was both hard work andgreat FUN. There is something amazing about working with the earth. Such an opportunity to practice thepurification of the elements, to practice presence, to observe our conditioning and to feel the pleasure ofobservable accomplishment. As we worked with our hands in the earth over a number of days we began tofeel strongly connected to the earth element and all the other active elements we were working with, air , fireand water.We weren’t as successful with the QUICK aspect of the formula. We learned from this experience that beforewe start any project we need to do careful planning and design and consider all the logistical, labor and equip-ment requirements of each project. All of the obstacles and setbacks we experienced were relatively minorand served only to teach us about what we need to do the next time. We did learn the meaning of “manana“from an oldtime Baja resident who told us it doesn’t necessarily mean “tomorrow”, rather it means “not today,but not necessarily tomorrow either”. As each day went by and we encountered things that didn’t go the waywe had “expected”, we got better at understanding the joy of “manana“… relax and go with the flow .We did very well with the SIMPLE and STRONG aspects of the formula. After mixing earth, cement andwater by hand for a few days we really began to realize the value of machines like Revolvadoras (cement mix-ers) and plows. However, when all our attempts to get a mixer failed we kept on with mixing by hand and gotvery good at creating a well-balanced blend, that when tamped, turned into amazingly strong earthen walls.Simple hand labor, creating a strong structure. We also learned the value of a hot tub. With all our hard work, nobody got injured or experience significantphysical pain. Each night after work we gathered in a hot tub with some libations, reviewed the day , sharedthoughts and laughed. While collaborating on a project like this, it is important to periodically check-in witheach other about what’s going on. We did this after three days, and it was helpful to hear what each of us wasexperiencing and feeling. It cut through any tensions that we may have felt. Afterwards we did a Ganapuja…a perfect way to keep our bonds strong.As you can see from the photo, by the time we all departed the dome was about 95% complete. When wereturn we’ll finish the top few layers and cover it with smooth earthen plasters to blend with the garden envi-ronment. Rinpoche encouraged us to carefully research the garden project so that it is profitable; hence, theGarden Committee is developing a plan of diverse and marketable products that can be for eating, healing,building or decorating.Next we’ll begin the infrastructure that will allow us to start building the residences including bringing inpower to the site, building gabion and Earthbag walls to protect from flooding, building a lar ge communitypalapa, where members can stay as they build their houses, and also building a Gonpa and a water storagepila. For more details about the Site Development plan go to www.blogger.com and search for LumbiniGardens Site Plan. If you want more specific information please contact John LaFrance atjohn.LaFrance@verizon.net.

Born:Diego was born to Daniele and Chiara Colajacomo on April 5, 2006in Los Angeles, California, weighing in at 4.8 Kgs. Greetings from the entire family!Daniele, Chiara, Alice and Matteo

NEW ITEMS AT THE TSEGYALGAR BOOKSTORE

p a s s a g e s

Lumbini Gardens Earthbag Dome

Kumbhaka course with Fabio Andrcio at Tsegyalgar East, April 2006 N ZEITZ

Tashigar SouthComunidad Dzogchen

TashigarCalle pública S/N

Tanti 5155Pcia. de Córdoba

ArgentinaTel & Fax: 0054- 3541-498 356Email: tashigarsur@gmail.com

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 15

I N T E R N A T I O N A LC O M M U N I T Y N E W S

Dondrub Ling is pleased to offer a six-day introductory course in

TIBETAN KUNYE MEDICINAL MASSAGEWITH DR. PHUNTSOG WANGMO

OF SHANG SHUNG INSTITUTE USA

Friday, May 26, through Wednesday, May 31

What is Tibetan Kunye Medicinal Massage?Kunye massage is one of the primary treatments in traditionalTibetan medicine. Kunye applies herbal medicinal oils throughspecialized massage techniques to the muscles, nerves, tendons,

and “crucial points” on the external body. This technique iseffective in treating diverse problems ranging from anxiety,insomnia and fatigue, to hearing loss and nerve disorders.

Through the application of Kunye massage, the elements andsubtle energy of the body are balanced. The beneficial practice

of Kunye is available for anyone to learn and is very usefulmedicinally and for daily life.

Who is Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo? Dr. Wangmo received her advanced degree from the Lhasa

University of Traditional Medicine in 1988. She has studied andpracticed medicine extensively with renowned physicians

Khenpo Troru Tsenam and Kenpo Gyaltsen, who are creditedwith the revival of Tibetan Medicine within Tibet under Chineseoccupation. She practiced traditional medicine for many years in

Eastern Tibet.

Dr. Wangmo directed the development of hospitals and trainingcenters in Tibet as a project coordinator of the A.S.I.A.

Foundation, a Tibetan cultural and humanitarian organizationfounded by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu.

Dr. Wangmo is currently head instructor of the Tibetan Medicinecurriculum at the Shang Shung Institute in Conway,

Massachusetts, at Tsegyalgar, the East Coast center of theInternational Dzogchen Community.

Course outline for Tibetan Kunye Medicinal Massage, LevelI

—Brief history of Tibetan medicine—Principle of the five elements—Principle of the three humors

—Humoral characteristics of different types of people—Diagnostic procedure of pulse-taking

—Diagnostic procedure of urine observation—Massage indications and contraindications

—Finding massage points—Measurements for finding points—Kunye massage techniques—Benefits of kunye massage

Course ScheduleFriday evening session

May 26 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Three daily sessions on Saturday, Sunday and MondayMay 27, 28 and 29

9:00am to 11:45am, 1:45pm to 4:30pm, 5:30pm to 7:45pm

Tuesday and Wednesday evening sessionsMay 30 and 31

6:30pm–9:15pm

Location:Dzogchen Community West Coast Center

2748 Adeline St., Suite D (upstairs over Crixa Cakes)Berkeley, CA. 94703

Cost: $340, discounted rate for registration by May 1 ($380after May 1)

Advance registration required. To register and for moreinformation, please contact

Monica or Adam at (415) 488-0181 or (510) 299-7513, email:kaliadesh@yahoo.com

Tashigar NorthFinca Tashigar

Prolongación de la Calle BolivarValle de Pedro González. Isla de

MargaritaTel: 00 58 295 415 5800

Email: tashinor@mail.dzogchen.ruWeb site: www.dzogchenvenezuela.org

A NEW GAKYIL AT TASHIGAR NORTE.MARGARITA ISLAND

Blue Gakyil: Fanny SantosDelma Miralles

Red Gakyil: Alesh RyznarGosha Kalmikov

Yellow Gakyil: Alexei PolionovAntonio Iannece

NEW GAKYIL OF BUENOS AIRES,ARGENTINA

Blue: María Elena GastaldiAnalía Falcón

Red: Alberto TorresMateo Leeaum

Yellow: Ingrid LückeClara Bordeu

s o u t h a m e r i c a

n a m g y a l g a r & p a c i f i c r i mNamgyalgar Dzogchen Community in Australia

PO Box 14 Central Tilba, NSW 2546

Tel/Fax: 61 02 4473 7668Email: namgyalg@acr.net.au

Web site: www.dzogchen.org.au

NAMGYALGAR GAKYIL @ MARCH 2006BLUE

Graeme HornerEmail at: <grahorn@optusnet.com.au>

Lisa KempsterEmail at: <jgdlisakempster@yahoo.com.au>

Catherine Simmonds (President)Email at: <catsimmo@yahoo.com>

YELLOWHelen Castle (Treasurer)

Email at: <gakyil@optusnet.com.au>

Madeleine Fogarty (Treasurer & Vice-President)Email at: <madeleinef@iprimus.com.au>

REDJoanna Tyshing (President)

Email: <joannatyshing@gmail.com>

Jean MackintoshEmail: <jeanimack@southernphone.com.au>

Andrew PalmerEmail: <a.palmer@unimelb.edu.au>

Secretary: Viki ForscuttTel / Fax: (02) 4473 7668

Email at: <namgyalg@acr.net.au >http://www.dzogchen.org.au

THE DZOGCHEN COMMUNITY OF AOTEAROA, NEW ZEALANDIS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE OUR NEW GAKYIL:Yellow: Kathy Arlidge

Red: Alistair Gager

Blue: Gabrielle Kearney

New Seattle Gakyil as of April 23rd 2006 is:

Yellow: Judith MarcusBlue: Heidi Schor

Red: Daniel Winkler

16

INTERVIEW WITH H.H. THE DALAI LAMAby Raimondo Bultrini

On the morning of the second day ofceremonies and meetings in thatmost opulent of the Adriatic coast

resorts, the Dalai Lama, in exile from Tibet,had an encounter , which in these timesseems a good omen. On invitation from the Associazione Italia-Tibet in the medieval town of Pennabilli,Tenzin Gyatso, a monk and Nobel peaceprize winner, embraced the Muslim Imamof Rimini before the local Catholic bishopand a vast audience of the public. It was an emotional moment for everyoneand there were tears in the eyes of many people at the thought of thehatred and violence instilled elsewhere in Italy and in the world by afew extremists. “Whatever the reasons, let us reflect on the fact that they are unhappyand let us try to share their unhappiness” is the radical piece of advicethe XIVth Dalai Lama had to of fer Westerners in this interview at theend of his visit to Rimini.

Q. Your Holiness, you have often asked that we try to understand thereasons at the roots of hatred. What do you deduce about the origins ofwhat has today been called a “clash of civilizations?”A. “I have said on other occasions, after the terrible and painful eventof 9/11, that the cause is to be looked for in earlier centuries, the twen -tieth century, the nineteenth century and even earlier. Colonization wasfollowed by Western progress while the Islamic nations were leftbehind. But they were not the only ones. Many Indians and Asians havehad problems with the so-called “American cultural invasion”. Formany reasons the Moslems consider the Western way of life a seriousthreat to their traditions. Then there are the political reasons, becauseAmerica is Israel’s greatest ally and so on, but the list of causes, as youknow, would be a long one. First of all we should consider that this longlasting dispute has created and hardened enormous emotional conflictswhich are not easily resolved with a short term strategy”.Q. What do you mean by short-termstrategy?A. “That of strict security provisions, which are necessary but have con-sequences which are not always controllable. For me, as a Buddhist anda religious person, what would be more interesting is an intensive long-term cure because there is a need to reconstruct our world’ s immunesystem. When the system is strong, minor infections do not damage us,but when it is weak then the risk is that illnesses can take over body andmind. Q. And how can we reconstruct a weak-ened world system?A. “What is necessary , first of all, is to tear out the roots of negativeemotions, of af flictions, to extinguish the very source of anger andhatred. Then a respect for the reciprocal dimensions will soon be re-established in the relationships between North and South, between richand poor, between atheists and Christians ”Q. Your Holiness is aware that that would take a long time, perhaps toolong for us to live to see the results.A. “Unfortunately, up to now , only negative seeds have been planted,with human intelligence on the part of a few , being used to create asmuch damage as possible to the whole of humanity , with no care forchildren, for the innocent, even for their own brothers in faith. Suchactions are not easily wiped out of the memory , but what is needed, inorder not to continue to damage minds with negative attitudes, is acountermeasure, beginning with the promotion of human valuesbecause we are human beings, and we must live together .”Q. What can the West or Westerners do in a concrete way at this point?A. “Listen. Listen to their complaints and their reasons. They are unhap-py and we should share their unhappiness.”Q. Your Holiness, you have to admit thatis a bit difficult A. “But if we analyze the problem we can see that the limits of the fun-damentalists lie in their inability to tolerate even the idea of dialogue,there is proof in their attempts to be invisible when they carry out theiractions. Among the Imans there are dif ferent interpretations of theKoran but the final understanding is left to the individual. This is whythere are extremists and black sheep, as there are in any religion”.Q. Even in Buddhism?A. “Certainly even in Buddhism. In 1997 a group claiming to be frommy same religious school were strongly suspected of having killed alama who was very dear to me, the director of the School of TibetanDialectics in Dharamsala, and two monks, translators who were playingan important role in interpreting with the Chinese. These same peoplehave beaten up and threatened other Tibetans in the name of theirvision, which I would define as Buddhist integralism. They consider acertain protecting spirit, that I used to pray to and that I now distrust tobe as important as the Buddha himself. In order to assert this, they wenton to damage those round them instead of respecting them and under-standing them, in line with the teachings of the man who spread theprinciples of universal compassion five centuries before Jesus ChristFrom this point of view our experience is no dif ferent from that ofChristianity, or of Hinduism”.

Q. In your opinion do the suicide killers belong to a fundamentalistarmy organized on a global scale or not? A. “If terror organizations find people ready to follow their orders, theseeds of hatred automatically take hold. Many dear friends, who areMuslims, are worried about the actions of those who are claiming to beMuslim but really are not, because in both modern and ancient Islam the

tolerant bases of the religion haveinspired generations of eruditeand wise men. For example, acertain banking system is forbid-den because it is considered to bea form of exploitation of man byman; this is a noble motivation. Ajournalist who lived in Teheranduring the years of theAyatollahs’ rule told me that aMullah that he knew had receivedvery rich donations and he haddistributed them equally amongthe poor. This is compassion.For this reason, we cannot hold itagainst all of them; it would be atotal mistake. Even we Tibetanscannot attribute our present con-dition of suffering to the Chinese.Looking at one’s own mistakes isthe beginning of a process of uni-versal understanding.”

Raimondo BultriniEngl. Trans. by Alison Duguid

Reprinted by permission from theMerigar Letter, October 20 Issue

ERRATA

In the article “Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. From the fifthvolume of Longsal. The Upadesha on the Tregchöd of PrimordialPurity Retreat” in Issue No. 77 of The Mirror corresponding toNovember/December 2005, pp. 1 and 24, it reads:“Rinpoche then spoke about tregchöd (khregs chod), one of thehighest forms of relaxation, the essence of Dzogchen Upadeshateachings. Treg means ‘something bound’ like an object. With outmind, we bind our dual vision. Chöd means ‘to cut TO BREAK BYITSELF’; rather, we enter into action, we break the cord of our dualvisio

Omission

On page 21 of issue 77 of The Mirror, the photo credit was incor-rect. The photographer was Tara Fernalld.

interview with Dalai Lama continued

T H E M I R R O R M A R / A P R 2 0 0 6 17

DIED:Glen Eddy

On April 5, 2006, Glen Roger Eddy, a long time studentof Chogyal Namkai Norbu and member of the Interna-tional Dzogchen Community died of a stroke in Cordo-

ba, Argentina.Born in San Francisco, California on May 17, 1941, Glen wasamong the first wave of Westerners to become engaged byTibetan Buddhism in the early 1970’ s. His formal training asan artist began at the San Francisco Art Institute. Later, he wasintroduced to Tibetan art at Pema Ling under the direction ofTarthang Tulku, eventually studying Tibetan art with severallineage masters including Tarthang Tulku, Dudjom Rinpoche,Trungpa Rinpoche and Gyaltrul Rinpoche - all who con-tributed to his knowledge of traditional methods. In 1974, heattended the Naropa Institute’s first summer along with otherthanka painters of his generation. Considered by many a fore-most master of Tikse or proportional drawing, his elegant linedrawings of yidams were highly regarded and adorned such early publications of Chogyam Trungpa,Rinpoche’s as, “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism,” “The Myth of Freedom,” “The Dawn of Tantra,”and internally published images for practitioners within the Shambhala community . Images survive of athanka painted with Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche as the central figure that was lost in the mail. In 1974, he married Terri Parkin with whom he had two sons, Glen in 1977 and Austin in 1981. They livedtogether for 14 years in Berkeley and Oakland, California. Glen first met Chögyal Namkhai Norbu with hisfamily in 1983 when they attended an early retreat at a private home in Berkeley . From 1994-2000 Glen resided in the vicinity of Tsegyalgar in Conway, Massachusetts where he initiated theGolden Vajra Guild at the newly inaugurated Shang-Shung Institute founded by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu forthe preservation of Tibetan culture..During that time he was commissioned by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu tocreate a number of lar ge scales thankas representing Rinpoche’ s Dzogchen lineage. These include a refugethanka with Padmasambhava; the Primordial Masters; Ekajati, protector of the Dzogchen teachings; andGoma Devi, one of the ancient 21 Semde masters from whom Chögyal Namkhai Norbu received some of hisLongsal terma cycle of teachings. His line drawings were considered by such masters as Chogyam TrungpaRinpoche, an artist himself, to be “very special and beautiful.” At the time of his death Glen was working ona step-by-step primer to thanka painting, “The Treasury of Luminous Manifestation,” for what he said, wouldbe the thanka painter of the future a hundred years from now . His family, many friends and dharma practitioners will long remember Glen as a generous and insightfulfriend leaving behind an important legacy of work for future generations. As a practitioner, he exemplified adeep devotion to Chögyal Namkhai Norbu integrating the profound essence of the Dzogchen teachings in anauthentic manner.

Jacqueline GensApril 12, 2006

Passing of Dr. Herbert V. Guenther

Dr. Guenther died in his sleep on 11-March-2006 six days beforehis 89th birthday. His 30 books continue to benefit many peopleinterested in teachings. He understood cryptic Tibetan language

and fearlessly used dif ferent English language systems including psy -chology, philosophy, science and religion. His translations provoke adeep appreciation of the totality of being rather than some pious self-righteous dogmatism. His life’s work continues to benefit many practi -tioners in the Dzogchen Community of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. Inparticular, Dr . Guenther helped me enormously during my fourteenyears of graduate study at the University of Saskatchewan. My thoughtsand best wishes go to his kind wife, Ilse, and their two children.

(Respectfully written by Jim Valby)

The Video Journal enters now its third year. We would like tothank all subscribers for their support.

The next issue will include a special section dedicated to ASIA'sprojects with rare archive footage of Tibet, it will also

cover the events that took place in Margarita fromNovember 2005 to February 2006 including the

dawn of the New Year of the Fire Dog .

Subscriptions for the four issues of 2006 arenow open to all members of the DzogchenCommunity at the same price as 2003,100 euros including mailing expenseseverywhere in the world.

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The four-year certification program closely parallels traditional trainingrooted in the Gyud Zhi, the fundamental text of Traditional TibetanMedicine, better known as The Four Tantras in English. The ancientTantras classify an amazing 1600 types of disease and correspondingtreatments using more than 3,000 medicinal plants.

The institute is curr ently accepting new student applications for Fall2006 enr ollment. For detailed pr ogram information and to applyonline, please visit ShangShung.or g. For other new student inquiries,please call (413) 369-4928.

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With a history going back over 2,500 years, traditional Tibetan medi-cine is one of the oldest continuously practiced healing systems onEarth. Regarded as science, art and philosophy, it is an ancient form ofholistic heath care indigenous to the Tibetan people that integrates thecore Buddhist principles of altruism, karma and ethics. TraditionalTibetan medicine evolved into a synthesis of thousands of years ofaccumulated empirical knowledge from China, Persia, India andGreece. It was practiced continuously in Tibet until the Chinese inva -sion in the 1950s and is still practiced today wherever Tibetans live inexile.

Tibetan Medicine in Conway continued from page 6

p a s s a g e s

E PEARLMAN

Dr. Guenther with students

DIED:Barrie Simmons

On MondayApril 24th, inthe late morn-

ing, our Vajra brotherof many years, BarrieSimmons, passedaway suddenly froma heart attack inRome, Italy. Besides being knowninternationally as aGestalt therapist, Barrie was alsoone of the first practitioners in theDzogchen Community in Italyand one of the first translators ofChögyal Namkhai Norbu’s teach-ings from Italian to English bothat retreats and in book form, forwhich many of us will always begrateful. He faithfully translatedmany of Rinpoche’s early retreatsand talks both in Italy and abroad.In 1976 he was present as one ofRinpoche’s first disciples at hisfirst big Dzogchen retreat atSubiaco in central Italy. Barrie had a skilful way withwords and was able to communi-cate clearly and diplomatically ina variety of situations. His adviceand collaboration in the creationand development of the Shang-Shung Institute in Italy was fun-damental and he was a dynamicmember of the Merigar Gakyil inthe mid-nineties. He was alwaysready to help and give advice inwhatever situation arose within

the Community. Barry played animportant role during the FirstCongress of Tibetan Medicine inVenice in 1983, and held confer-ences on psychology and its linkto Buddhism.He had a profound devotion toChögyal Namkhai Norbu andother Buddhist masters and greatcommitment to the DzogchenCommunity.Although his health had not beengood in recent years, he nevercomplained about it and contin-ued to work with great generosityto support his family through histravels and seminars.Barrie had a large family and wasa caring husband, father andgrandfather. He will be greatlymissed by his wife, Nancy , hischildren Maria, Nicola, Mirandaand Noah and his many grand-children.His passing leaves a profoundsadness in each of us who knewhim.

Barrie and Nancy in Rome, 1994 PHOTO COURTESY OF B PAPARAZZO

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HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MIRROR @ www.melong.comThere are a variety of ways to subscribe to The Mirror. In some Gars and Communities The Mirror is includ-ed in membership. You need to check with your local Gar or Community to find out.Otherwise you can go on line to www.melong.com and there you can subscribe from everywhere in theworld. We offer paper only for $35US, online only for $25US and $45US for both. You can also upgrade, ifyou receive a paper only copy with your membership you can upgrade on line paying $10US, and if you getan online only subscription included in your membership, you can pay a $20US upgrade and receive both.Only older editions of The Mirror can be printed out from the online version. If you live in certain countries in S America, please contact Naomi Zeitz at mirror@tsegyalgar.org for moreinformation about possible rate reductions. Meritorious members receive both paper and on line subscriptions to The Mirror.

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Calendar Agenda forthe Fir e Dog Year(2006-2007) Euro 10.00 Pocket agenda containing concise indica-tions of the practices recommended byChögyal Namkhai Norbu for special days,positive and negative days for the NagasPractice, astrological data of the TibetanCalendar and the individual aspects forthose born between 1915 and 2006.Indispensable for finding out favorable andunfavorable days for daily activities and toremember special practice days.

Key for Consulting the Tibetan Calendar

Edited by M.R. Leti Euro 13.00Much information on Tibetan astrology and on its application to dailylife. A practical and complete manual, indispensable for the consul -tation of the annual astrological calendar. The Key for Consulting the Tibetan Calendar came out of a courseheld by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in Rome at the beginning of the1980’s as part of a seminar on Tibetan Medicine and Astrology. It rep-resents a precious and indeed unique contribution towards an under-standing of the value of the ancient knowledge of Tibetan astrology.Payment on-line by Credit Card (secure mode), via postal order orbank transfer.Email: shangshunged@tiscali.it

20

by Robin Bennett

Istarted searching for a teacherand became interested in spiri-tuality when I was about nine-

teen, so I left England to live inIreland in a community of similarminded people. We rented a cot-tage and were aiming to buysomething with land and a house.At the time we were living out ofcaravans, a bit like hippies, wehad ideas about ecology and liv-ing together in harmony with spir-itual values that we all cametogether on - essentially new age.For me the spiritual journey hadjust begun to unfold in the safetynet of likeminded people. Thiswas the oasis for my spiritualgrowth that schools and collegesnever touched on. Main streameducation never taught aboutcompassion as far as I remember.Then one thing led to another andit is said that when the student isready the teacher will appear.

My karma ripened and Iquickly met a Tibetan Lama, aGelugpa, (not from the NKT! I’dlike to make that clear) under thepatronage of the Dalai Lama. Isaw an advertisement by an IrishDharma center about a Lama giv-ing teachings on karma and uni-versal responsibility in an ecolog-ical magazine and all of a suddenI just knew at that point that I wasgoing to be ordained as a monk.And I was going there to the dhar-ma center to ask this Lama –Panchen Ottrul Rinpoche – toordain me. With that in mind, Iheaded out to his center that wasabout two hours from where Iwas living, in County Cavan, inthe center of Ireland. As I hitchhiked up there it was already inmy mind to ask him to ordain me.My friends were all prettyamazed.

I think the main reason for mydecision was that I felt responsi-ble for a lot of things that hadhappened before in my life andthe world and I wanted to dosomething positive, and needed toimmerse myself by jumping in!

And I needed a teacher to guideme. Going into things as deeplyas possible meant taking ordina-tion. And yes, I had read a lotabout dif ferent religions and Iknew a bit about what beingordained meant. So I just wentthere with that intention and I metthe Lama there and I got to knowhim during that weekend course.This was really my first meetingwith the Dharma. Before I left Itold him that I was going backhome but on my next visit there Iasked him if I could do the firstlevel of ordination. He agreed so Iwent b ack h ome a nd t ogetherwith my friends I made myself aset of robes.

Two or three weeks passedand then I went back to the centerand got ordained. I was ordainedas a novice and the ceremonytook place on a very auspiciousday – the Parinirvana of theBuddha. There was a hair-cuttingceremony. The novice with eightvows.

I still continued to live withmy friends because it was a reallygood environment there and Iwasn’t really thinking about whatthe future held. At that stage all ofus were starting to have dif ferentideas about the future and howour ideas were going to manifest.As such at that point we all endedup going to the four corners of theearth, so our community kind ofdissolved. Then I was invited tostay at the Jampa Ling Buddhistcenter in Cavan, where I had beenordained.

So this was really the start ofmy Dharma path. I served myteacher in Ireland for many yearsand I traveled to India and Nepal.Eventually I took another level ofordination with Lama Zopa afterabout a year. This was the secondin three stages of being ordained.The second stage meant thirty-sixvows. I met a lot of Westernerswhile I was staying in Kopan inNepal near the BoudhanathStupa. Strangely e nough, evenwhen I was on my way to beordained the first time with my

teacher in Ireland, I had alwayshad the intention to visit India andTibet - so I followed that through.My path took me to Nepal.

The following seven yearstook me back and forth betweenIndia, Ireland and Nepal. And inthe middle of all that I studied atvarious places in India, in monas-teries, universities and also inDharamsala, studying T ibetanlanguage and obviously takingteachings from the Dalai Lamaand various Gelugpa Lamas.

There was so much informa-tion: V inaya, Madhyamika,Bodhichitta, Prajnaparamita,Sutra and Tantra, it was quite – let’s say - overwhelming andalthough I was assimilating it atsome level, I felt out of my depth.And in the middle of all this, itjust so happened that one day Iwas given three books from a stu-dent of my first teacher , PanchenOttrul Rinpoche. They were threebooks by Chögyal NamkhaiNorbu. I didn’ t know anythingabout Dzogchen at that stage, butI asked my teacher for permissionto read them because it was a dif-ferent tradition in terms ofTibetan Buddhism.

Then one day I was sick andbed ridden and I just picked upthose books and read themthrough. It was a profoundapproach, an overview that gaveme a taste of realization that I hadnot had previously. I thought that

this is exactly what I have beenlooking for . Namkhai NorbuRinpoche literally spoke to methrough those books and openedup a whole new view of theDharma, a Dzogchen point ofview – an overview weepingdown from above.

So at that point, I wanted tomeet Chögyal Namkhai Norbubut I was in the middle of being amonk and I had no intention ofsimply dropping everything inthat moment and there was noneed to because I was more orless happy in the situation I wasin. But as the years went on, I felta kind of transition and being aWesterner in the West and – youknow, it’s something like pioneer-ing, you’re a monk, but you’renot a Christian monk, you’re aBuddhist monk, probably theonly one in Ireland. I more or lesshad to work to pay for my studiesin India so I was moving in andout of society and after nine yearsI just felt that a transition periodhad arrived.

In that year I had just comeback from India and I wanted tocome to Italy and meet ChögyalNamkhai Norbu five years after Ihad read his books, becauseessentially the books were mymeeting with Chögyal NamkhaiNorbu.

So in 2000 I came toRinpoche’s teachings in Italy . Iwas still ordained. Things hap-pened to me at that time that justaccelerated the transition and thatmoment became a crossroads forme. And when I returned toIreland I realized that I now want-ed to disrobe and lead a lay per-son’s life. I continued to live inIreland near the center and I stillconnected with it and life carriedon as normal.

Then in time, I moved to Italyto Arcidosso with my partnerAntonella to be near Merigar in2001, was the geköes withAntonella from 2004-2005. Sincefinishing my term here I continueto live close to Merigar and enjoyparticipating in the center’s activ-

ities and feel a great benefit fromthe center for which I am trulygrateful to Chögyal NamkhaiNorbu Rinpoche for putting somuch continued ef fort into. Amaster that opens such opportuni-ties is rare. I pray that as his stu-dents we follow and take care ofhis words of advice and practicein our lives.

I’d like to say that there wasno friction from my moving fromthe Gelugpa tradition andembracing Dzogchen. It was justlike moving on, not saying good-bye. It was not as if I had foundsomething better. For me, it wasjust supposed to happen like that.I am still in contact with myteacher in Ireland. It was just thatI felt more comfortable being inthe Dzogchen teaching, whileremaining always a practitioner.

In fact the first time I camehere and received teachings fromChögyal Namkhai Norbu hespoke about dif ferent traditionsand how you shouldn’ t becomeconfused if you are Gelugpa,Sakayapa, Nyingma, or Kargyupabecause in the West we have sucha flow of teachers passingthrough and if you live in a placelike London or another big citythis ebb of teachers is constantlycoming through. Somehow weare encouraged to receive initia-tions after the teachings and ifyou are new to the dharma or ayoung person, enthusiasm for theteachings means getting involved.It’s great that it is so available butif we are not careful we mayexhaust ourselves.

Rinpoche encourages us tobring it all together and make it asimplified Guru Yoga, which wasat the right moment for me andwithout any contradiction in that.It was fantastic when I heard that.I was so happy. Because I respectall my teachers and feel that Ineed to maintain their transmis-sion, so what Rinpoche alwayssays about bringing them alto-gether in such a way brought mea big sigh of relief.

HOW I MET CHÖGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU

S h a n g S h u n g E d i z i o n iDRAJYOR

Tibetan Phonetics For The Dzogchen CommunityEuro 6,00

The word drajyor, or writing of the sounds, refers to the writ-ing of the different syllables that compose words so that we

can pronounce them correctly. In this book Chögyal NamkhaiNorbu illustrates in detail his own system for transcribing the

Tibetan letters to enable the practitioners of the DzogchenCommunity to pronounce correctly the invocations of the prac-

tices and the most recurrent words of the teaching. The finalPhonetic Index indicates the correct pronunciation of every

Tibetan syllable.

Shang Shung Edizioni books can be ordered on-line by visiting the Merigar websitewww.dzogchen.it on the Home Page click onPublications, then on Shang Shung Edizioni https://merigar.secure.powweb.com/shang-shungeditions/library.php