The first night that Rinpoche spent on what was to become the retreat land in southern Oregon, he had a vision of a magnificent Guru Rinpoche statue. The next morning while walking the land, Rinpoche pointed out the very spot he had seen the night before in his vision. This was the inception of Rigdzin Gatsal, "Grove of the Awareness HoIders," and preceded what has now been ten years of Great Perfection (Dozog Chen) teachings on that sacred land.
The following year, in the summer of 1982, those in the sangha who could manage to leave behind families and businesses, packed up and left for the first thirty-day Great Perfection retreat. As with any powerful retreat, the obstacles to getting there seemed formidable, and an unwavering commitment was needed to surmount the personal and financial crises that arose. Eighteen students were able to make it to that first retreat.
Upon arriving and setting up camp–personal tents, a twenty-foot yurt and a very primitive kitchen–we had time to settle into the realization of what four weeks of un-swatable mosquitoes, communal cooking, no porcelain facilities, and celibacy–as well as the unheard of wake-up time of 4:00 a.m.–would be like. However, when Rinpoche began the transmission of the profound Dzog Chen teachings, all complaints faded into insignificance.
We were presented with the vast and profoundly simple view of the Great Perfection. We struggled through the thick layers of our own obscuring concepts to understand what was, in essence, beyond all concepts. Rinpoche's compassion and patience guided us past the problems posed by the language barrier and undeveloped terminology until occasionally, just occasionally, we tasted the essence. Step by step we were led to the vast well of Rinpoche's heart, where an unnamable thirst was finally relieved. It felt like coming home.
After two weeks of teachings, Rinpoche told us that the time had come to begin work on the Guru Rinpoche statue. We envisioned a statue similar to the 12-inch ceramic one he had recently completed, but of course Rinpoche's vision was much larger. The magnitude became apparent as we constructed a throne, which kept getting higher and higher, while Rinpoche sculpted the head below. Each morning we would receive teachings on the illusory nature of all phenomena, and then work the rest of the day and late into the night, until our perceptions of relative reality wore thin. By following his careful and sometimes mysterious instructions step by step, we got to see what he could see, and a 22-foot Guru Rinpoche manifested in a miraculous 18 days.
It is by this integration of view and action, incorporating the view of the teachings into the fabric of everyday life, that it becomes possible to attain complete enlightenment in a single lifetime. Such is the power of the Great Perfection and the incomparable blessings of the great DzogChen masters of the past and the living lineage embodied in Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Over the years, the momentum of pure motivation and the power of accumulated practice have created an interdependent condition that continues to mature, ensuring auspicious circumstances for all future retreats.
Each year the retreat has grown as more and more students from around the country and around the world have completed their preliminary practices and attended the first, second, and third-year teachings.
Padmasambhava, a forefather of the Great Perfection, predicted that there would come a time when the dharma would come to the West. Surely we are seeing the truth of this prophecy unfold through Rinpoche's transmission of these timeless teachings. Rinpoche believes in the capacity of Western students to realize these teachings. He also reminds us, constantly, of impermanence. Although the Great Perfection is beyond the concepts of time and space, our ability to hear and practice these teachings is due to our precious human birth–a rare and precious confluence of merit, karma, and previous aspirations.
How long each of us will be here, how long our collective merit will sustain Rinpoche's presence among us, we cannot know. The fortune to have here in the West a living master of the Great Perfection, teaching openly the heart essence of the Buddha's path, and working with each of our minds asif we were his own child, is almost inconceivable. Rinpoche's gift to us is the opportunity to resolve, in this one lifetime, all causes and conditions for rebirth in the ongoing cycles of suffering and to attain the awakened state of Buddhahood.
The first night that Rinpoche spent on what was to become the retreat land in southern Oregon, he had a vision of a magnificent Guru Rinpoche statue. The next morning while walking the land, Rinpoche pointed out the very spot he had seen the night before in his vision. This was the inception of Rigdzin Gatsal, "Grove of the Awareness HoIders," and preceded what has now been ten years of Great Perfection (Dozog Chen) teachings on that sacred land.
The following year, in the summer of 1982, those in the sangha who could manage to leave behind families and businesses, packed up and left for the first thirty-day Great Perfection retreat. As with any powerful retreat, the obstacles to getting there seemed formidable, and an unwavering commitment was needed to surmount the personal and financial crises that arose. Eighteen students were able to make it to that first retreat.
Upon arriving and setting up camp–personal tents, a twenty-foot yurt and a very primitive kitchen–we had time to settle into the realization of what four weeks of un-swatable mosquitoes, communal cooking, no porcelain facilities, and celibacy–as well as the unheard of wake-up time of 4:00 a.m.–would be like. However, when Rinpoche began the transmission of the profound Dzog Chen teachings, all complaints faded into insignificance.
We were presented with the vast and profoundly simple view of the Great Perfection. We struggled through the thick layers of our own obscuring concepts to understand what was, in essence, beyond all concepts. Rinpoche's compassion and patience guided us past the problems posed by the language barrier and undeveloped terminology until occasionally, just occasionally, we tasted the essence. Step by step we were led to the vast well of Rinpoche's heart, where an unnamable thirst was finally relieved. It felt like coming home.
After two weeks of teachings, Rinpoche told us that the time had come to begin work on the Guru Rinpoche statue. We envisioned a statue similar to the 12-inch ceramic one he had recently completed, but of course Rinpoche's vision was much larger. The magnitude became apparent as we constructed a throne, which kept getting higher and higher, while Rinpoche sculpted the head below. Each morning we would receive teachings on the illusory nature of all phenomena, and then work the rest of the day and late into the night, until our perceptions of relative reality wore thin. By following his careful and sometimes mysterious instructions step by step, we got to see what he could see, and a 22-foot Guru Rinpoche manifested in a miraculous 18 days.
It is by this integration of view and action, incorporating the view of the teachings into the fabric of everyday life, that it becomes possible to attain complete enlightenment in a single lifetime. Such is the power of the Great Perfection and the incomparable blessings of the great DzogChen masters of the past and the living lineage embodied in Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Over the years, the momentum of pure motivation and the power of accumulated practice have created an interdependent condition that continues to mature, ensuring auspicious circumstances for all future retreats.
Each year the retreat has grown as more and more students from around the country and around the world have completed their preliminary practices and attended the first, second, and third-year teachings.
Padmasambhava, a forefather of the Great Perfection, predicted that there would come a time when the dharma would come to the West. Surely we are seeing the truth of this prophecy unfold through Rinpoche's transmission of these timeless teachings. Rinpoche believes in the capacity of Western students to realize these teachings. He also reminds us, constantly, of impermanence. Although the Great Perfection is beyond the concepts of time and space, our ability to hear and practice these teachings is due to our precious human birth–a rare and precious confluence of merit, karma, and previous aspirations.
How long each of us will be here, how long our collective merit will sustain Rinpoche's presence among us, we cannot know. The fortune to have here in the West a living master of the Great Perfection, teaching openly the heart essence of the Buddha's path, and working with each of our minds asif we were his own child, is almost inconceivable. Rinpoche's gift to us is the opportunity to resolve, in this one lifetime, all causes and conditions for rebirth in the ongoing cycles of suffering and to attain the awakened state of Buddhahood.
The first night that Rinpoche spent on what was to become the retreat land in southern Oregon, he had a vision of a magnificent Guru Rinpoche statue. The next morning while walking the land, Rinpoche pointed out the very spot he had seen the night before in his vision. This was the inception of Rigdzin Gatsal, "Grove of the Awareness HoIders," and preceded what has now been ten years of Great Perfection (Dozog Chen) teachings on that sacred land.
The following year, in the summer of 1982, those in the sangha who could manage to leave behind families and businesses, packed up and left for the first thirty-day Great Perfection retreat. As with any powerful retreat, the obstacles to getting there seemed formidable, and an unwavering commitment was needed to surmount the personal and financial crises that arose. Eighteen students were able to make it to that first retreat.
Upon arriving and setting up camp–personal tents, a twenty-foot yurt and a very primitive kitchen–we had time to settle into the realization of what four weeks of un-swatable mosquitoes, communal cooking, no porcelain facilities, and celibacy–as well as the unheard of wake-up time of 4:00 a.m.–would be like. However, when Rinpoche began the transmission of the profound Dzog Chen teachings, all complaints faded into insignificance.
We were presented with the vast and profoundly simple view of the Great Perfection. We struggled through the thick layers of our own obscuring concepts to understand what was, in essence, beyond all concepts. Rinpoche's compassion and patience guided us past the problems posed by the language barrier and undeveloped terminology until occasionally, just occasionally, we tasted the essence. Step by step we were led to the vast well of Rinpoche's heart, where an unnamable thirst was finally relieved. It felt like coming home.
After two weeks of teachings, Rinpoche told us that the time had come to begin work on the Guru Rinpoche statue. We envisioned a statue similar to the 12-inch ceramic one he had recently completed, but of course Rinpoche's vision was much larger. The magnitude became apparent as we constructed a throne, which kept getting higher and higher, while Rinpoche sculpted the head below. Each morning we would receive teachings on the illusory nature of all phenomena, and then work the rest of the day and late into the night, until our perceptions of relative reality wore thin. By following his careful and sometimes mysterious instructions step by step, we got to see what he could see, and a 22-foot Guru Rinpoche manifested in a miraculous 18 days.
It is by this integration of view and action, incorporating the view of the teachings into the fabric of everyday life, that it becomes possible to attain complete enlightenment in a single lifetime. Such is the power of the Great Perfection and the incomparable blessings of the great DzogChen masters of the past and the living lineage embodied in Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Over the years, the momentum of pure motivation and the power of accumulated practice have created an interdependent condition that continues to mature, ensuring auspicious circumstances for all future retreats.
Each year the retreat has grown as more and more students from around the country and around the world have completed their preliminary practices and attended the first, second, and third-year teachings.
Padmasambhava, a forefather of the Great Perfection, predicted that there would come a time when the dharma would come to the West. Surely we are seeing the truth of this prophecy unfold through Rinpoche's transmission of these timeless teachings. Rinpoche believes in the capacity of Western students to realize these teachings. He also reminds us, constantly, of impermanence. Although the Great Perfection is beyond the concepts of time and space, our ability to hear and practice these teachings is due to our precious human birth–a rare and precious confluence of merit, karma, and previous aspirations.
How long each of us will be here, how long our collective merit will sustain Rinpoche's presence among us, we cannot know. The fortune to have here in the West a living master of the Great Perfection, teaching openly the heart essence of the Buddha's path, and working with each of our minds asif we were his own child, is almost inconceivable. Rinpoche's gift to us is the opportunity to resolve, in this one lifetime, all causes and conditions for rebirth in the ongoing cycles of suffering and to attain the awakened state of Buddhahood.
The first night that Rinpoche spent on what was to become the retreat land in southern Oregon, he had a vision of a magnificent Guru Rinpoche statue. The next morning while walking the land, Rinpoche pointed out the very spot he had seen the night before in his vision. This was the inception of Rigdzin Gatsal, "Grove of the Awareness HoIders," and preceded what has now been ten years of Great Perfection (Dozog Chen) teachings on that sacred land.
The following year, in the summer of 1982, those in the sangha who could manage to leave behind families and businesses, packed up and left for the first thirty-day Great Perfection retreat. As with any powerful retreat, the obstacles to getting there seemed formidable, and an unwavering commitment was needed to surmount the personal and financial crises that arose. Eighteen students were able to make it to that first retreat.
Upon arriving and setting up camp–personal tents, a twenty-foot yurt and a very primitive kitchen–we had time to settle into the realization of what four weeks of un-swatable mosquitoes, communal cooking, no porcelain facilities, and celibacy–as well as the unheard of wake-up time of 4:00 a.m.–would be like. However, when Rinpoche began the transmission of the profound Dzog Chen teachings, all complaints faded into insignificance.
We were presented with the vast and profoundly simple view of the Great Perfection. We struggled through the thick layers of our own obscuring concepts to understand what was, in essence, beyond all concepts. Rinpoche's compassion and patience guided us past the problems posed by the language barrier and undeveloped terminology until occasionally, just occasionally, we tasted the essence. Step by step we were led to the vast well of Rinpoche's heart, where an unnamable thirst was finally relieved. It felt like coming home.
After two weeks of teachings, Rinpoche told us that the time had come to begin work on the Guru Rinpoche statue. We envisioned a statue similar to the 12-inch ceramic one he had recently completed, but of course Rinpoche's vision was much larger. The magnitude became apparent as we constructed a throne, which kept getting higher and higher, while Rinpoche sculpted the head below. Each morning we would receive teachings on the illusory nature of all phenomena, and then work the rest of the day and late into the night, until our perceptions of relative reality wore thin. By following his careful and sometimes mysterious instructions step by step, we got to see what he could see, and a 22-foot Guru Rinpoche manifested in a miraculous 18 days.
It is by this integration of view and action, incorporating the view of the teachings into the fabric of everyday life, that it becomes possible to attain complete enlightenment in a single lifetime. Such is the power of the Great Perfection and the incomparable blessings of the great DzogChen masters of the past and the living lineage embodied in Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Over the years, the momentum of pure motivation and the power of accumulated practice have created an interdependent condition that continues to mature, ensuring auspicious circumstances for all future retreats.
Each year the retreat has grown as more and more students from around the country and around the world have completed their preliminary practices and attended the first, second, and third-year teachings.
Padmasambhava, a forefather of the Great Perfection, predicted that there would come a time when the dharma would come to the West. Surely we are seeing the truth of this prophecy unfold through Rinpoche's transmission of these timeless teachings. Rinpoche believes in the capacity of Western students to realize these teachings. He also reminds us, constantly, of impermanence. Although the Great Perfection is beyond the concepts of time and space, our ability to hear and practice these teachings is due to our precious human birth–a rare and precious confluence of merit, karma, and previous aspirations.
How long each of us will be here, how long our collective merit will sustain Rinpoche's presence among us, we cannot know. The fortune to have here in the West a living master of the Great Perfection, teaching openly the heart essence of the Buddha's path, and working with each of our minds asif we were his own child, is almost inconceivable. Rinpoche's gift to us is the opportunity to resolve, in this one lifetime, all causes and conditions for rebirth in the ongoing cycles of suffering and to attain the awakened state of Buddhahood.
The first night that Rinpoche spent on what was to become the retreat land in southern Oregon, he had a vision of a magnificent Guru Rinpoche statue. The next morning while walking the land, Rinpoche pointed out the very spot he had seen the night before in his vision. This was the inception of Rigdzin Gatsal, "Grove of the Awareness HoIders," and preceded what has now been ten years of Great Perfection (Dozog Chen) teachings on that sacred land.
The following year, in the summer of 1982, those in the sangha who could manage to leave behind families and businesses, packed up and left for the first thirty-day Great Perfection retreat. As with any powerful retreat, the obstacles to getting there seemed formidable, and an unwavering commitment was needed to surmount the personal and financial crises that arose. Eighteen students were able to make it to that first retreat.
Upon arriving and setting up camp–personal tents, a twenty-foot yurt and a very primitive kitchen–we had time to settle into the realization of what four weeks of un-swatable mosquitoes, communal cooking, no porcelain facilities, and celibacy–as well as the unheard of wake-up time of 4:00 a.m.–would be like. However, when Rinpoche began the transmission of the profound Dzog Chen teachings, all complaints faded into insignificance.
We were presented with the vast and profoundly simple view of the Great Perfection. We struggled through the thick layers of our own obscuring concepts to understand what was, in essence, beyond all concepts. Rinpoche's compassion and patience guided us past the problems posed by the language barrier and undeveloped terminology until occasionally, just occasionally, we tasted the essence. Step by step we were led to the vast well of Rinpoche's heart, where an unnamable thirst was finally relieved. It felt like coming home.
After two weeks of teachings, Rinpoche told us that the time had come to begin work on the Guru Rinpoche statue. We envisioned a statue similar to the 12-inch ceramic one he had recently completed, but of course Rinpoche's vision was much larger. The magnitude became apparent as we constructed a throne, which kept getting higher and higher, while Rinpoche sculpted the head below. Each morning we would receive teachings on the illusory nature of all phenomena, and then work the rest of the day and late into the night, until our perceptions of relative reality wore thin. By following his careful and sometimes mysterious instructions step by step, we got to see what he could see, and a 22-foot Guru Rinpoche manifested in a miraculous 18 days.
It is by this integration of view and action, incorporating the view of the teachings into the fabric of everyday life, that it becomes possible to attain complete enlightenment in a single lifetime. Such is the power of the Great Perfection and the incomparable blessings of the great DzogChen masters of the past and the living lineage embodied in Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Over the years, the momentum of pure motivation and the power of accumulated practice have created an interdependent condition that continues to mature, ensuring auspicious circumstances for all future retreats.
Each year the retreat has grown as more and more students from around the country and around the world have completed their preliminary practices and attended the first, second, and third-year teachings.
Padmasambhava, a forefather of the Great Perfection, predicted that there would come a time when the dharma would come to the West. Surely we are seeing the truth of this prophecy unfold through Rinpoche's transmission of these timeless teachings. Rinpoche believes in the capacity of Western students to realize these teachings. He also reminds us, constantly, of impermanence. Although the Great Perfection is beyond the concepts of time and space, our ability to hear and practice these teachings is due to our precious human birth–a rare and precious confluence of merit, karma, and previous aspirations.
How long each of us will be here, how long our collective merit will sustain Rinpoche's presence among us, we cannot know. The fortune to have here in the West a living master of the Great Perfection, teaching openly the heart essence of the Buddha's path, and working with each of our minds asif we were his own child, is almost inconceivable. Rinpoche's gift to us is the opportunity to resolve, in this one lifetime, all causes and conditions for rebirth in the ongoing cycles of suffering and to attain the awakened state of Buddhahood.
