This past summer at Rigdzin Ling, two treasure cycles, The Essence of Siddhi from H. H.Khyentse Rinpoche and Red Vajrasattva from Padgyal Lingpa, were practiced extensively during two week long drubchens.
Chagdud Rinpoche has held a drubchen every year since he received The Essence of Siddhi practice from His Holiness in 1987. The Red Vajrasattva practice is one aspect of a larger treasure cycle that was revealed by Padgyal Lingpa in 1960 when he pulled a small casket containing the treasure from the waters of a poisonous lake in the Padmakod region of Tibet. At the time that Guru Rinpoche hid this treasure he prophesied that Chagdud Rinpoche would be its custodian, but Padgyal Lingpa died before he could transmit the complete cycle to him. Fortunately, Tulku Sang-ngag received the entire transmission and it was from him that Chagdud Tulku received the necessary empowerments.
Both Tulku Sang-ngag and Chagdud Rinpoche are emanations of Gyalwa Chhlog-yang, one of the twenty-five close disciples of Padmasambhava. It was most auspicious that Tulku Sang-ngag was present and seated beside Chagdud Tulku at both drubchens.
In speaking of the two terma practices, Tulku Sang-ngag said that they are of the same essence in that they focus on the Three Roots. When a group of lamas wanted to conduct an Essence of Siddhi drubchen but did not have the specific empowerment, H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche explained to them that because they had received empowerments into Padgyal Lingpa's treasure cycle and the practices are so similar in their intent, this would suffice. Thus, each of the drubchens was complete in itself, yet had a natural continuity that enhanced both occasions. During the drubchen many facets of Vajrayana activity are practiced, but the singular purpose of them all is to benefit sentient beings. Chagdud Rinpoche, teaching on the practice of visualization,stated:
"What binds us to samsara is our habit of perceiving in ordinary ways and of holding to the apparent truth of self and other. Because we give power to this dualistic perception, we have attachment to the things that we like and aversion to those we don't. To change these ordinary perceptions and purify the mind's poisons, we practice visualization, which undermines our habit of holding to phenomena as solid and inherently true. The empty, wisdom nature is revealed and we come to an understanding of things as they actually are."
The first drubchen ended on Guru Rinpoche day with a performance of ritual dances by which both lama-dancers and observers paid homage to the eight emanations of Padmasambhava. One of the dancers described it in the following way:
"When you dance, your sense of self falls away. Your movement is restricted by the weight of the brocade robes and bone ornaments. Your ability to see, hear and breathe is impaired by the mask. Lama dancing performances are not easy or comfortable. It is as though the weightiness of both the costumes and the lineage combine to exhaust you before you even take your first step. Yet despite all this discomfort, the blessings of this practice are very swift. Heartfelt prayers to the lineage masters arise spontaneously and, as your holding to ordinary phenomena is exhausted, the five poisons naturally fall away to reveal the five wisdoms. You are left in an open state in which compassion arises naturally for all the sentient beings suffering within the cycles of samsara. In that moment of openness you find the strength that fuels your dharma activity. Therein lie the blessings of the dance lineage."
Similarly, for those who gaze at the rich brocades, the bodhisattvas' unblinking stares and the wisdom beings' subtle gestures, the experience is one of opening to a state beyond ordinary concepts. In this way both dancer and observer are liberated from ordinary perception.
The first Red Vajrasattva drubchen in the West began the day after the dances, with Tulku Sang-ngag acting as vajra master. This week of practice placed strong emphasis on the importance of samaya commitments, the value of confession and living with one another harmoniously. An extensive death ceremony from the terma cycle was performed for the benefit of deceased persons with whom the participants had a connection, whether positive or negative. The purpose of the ceremony was to aid in the liberation of the deceased from the six realms of cyclic existence, regardless of when they had died or where they had been reborn. Included were the names of deceased sangha members and friends who had been on the Rigdzin Ling prayer list over the past few years.
The drubchen ended with an elaborate fire puja in which the appropriate substances were gathered, multiplied by the power of practice and offered to the Buddha families of the five directions. Rain had fallen consistently, often in torrents, during the previous two weeks of practice, buton the morning of the fire puja the clouds dispersed, revealing in brilliant sunlight the colors of the freshly washed land and the ceremonial silks.
This past summer at Rigdzin Ling, two treasure cycles, The Essence of Siddhi from H. H.Khyentse Rinpoche and Red Vajrasattva from Padgyal Lingpa, were practiced extensively during two week long drubchens.
Chagdud Rinpoche has held a drubchen every year since he received The Essence of Siddhi practice from His Holiness in 1987. The Red Vajrasattva practice is one aspect of a larger treasure cycle that was revealed by Padgyal Lingpa in 1960 when he pulled a small casket containing the treasure from the waters of a poisonous lake in the Padmakod region of Tibet. At the time that Guru Rinpoche hid this treasure he prophesied that Chagdud Rinpoche would be its custodian, but Padgyal Lingpa died before he could transmit the complete cycle to him. Fortunately, Tulku Sang-ngag received the entire transmission and it was from him that Chagdud Tulku received the necessary empowerments.
Both Tulku Sang-ngag and Chagdud Rinpoche are emanations of Gyalwa Chhlog-yang, one of the twenty-five close disciples of Padmasambhava. It was most auspicious that Tulku Sang-ngag was present and seated beside Chagdud Tulku at both drubchens.
In speaking of the two terma practices, Tulku Sang-ngag said that they are of the same essence in that they focus on the Three Roots. When a group of lamas wanted to conduct an Essence of Siddhi drubchen but did not have the specific empowerment, H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche explained to them that because they had received empowerments into Padgyal Lingpa's treasure cycle and the practices are so similar in their intent, this would suffice. Thus, each of the drubchens was complete in itself, yet had a natural continuity that enhanced both occasions. During the drubchen many facets of Vajrayana activity are practiced, but the singular purpose of them all is to benefit sentient beings. Chagdud Rinpoche, teaching on the practice of visualization,stated:
"What binds us to samsara is our habit of perceiving in ordinary ways and of holding to the apparent truth of self and other. Because we give power to this dualistic perception, we have attachment to the things that we like and aversion to those we don't. To change these ordinary perceptions and purify the mind's poisons, we practice visualization, which undermines our habit of holding to phenomena as solid and inherently true. The empty, wisdom nature is revealed and we come to an understanding of things as they actually are."
The first drubchen ended on Guru Rinpoche day with a performance of ritual dances by which both lama-dancers and observers paid homage to the eight emanations of Padmasambhava. One of the dancers described it in the following way:
"When you dance, your sense of self falls away. Your movement is restricted by the weight of the brocade robes and bone ornaments. Your ability to see, hear and breathe is impaired by the mask. Lama dancing performances are not easy or comfortable. It is as though the weightiness of both the costumes and the lineage combine to exhaust you before you even take your first step. Yet despite all this discomfort, the blessings of this practice are very swift. Heartfelt prayers to the lineage masters arise spontaneously and, as your holding to ordinary phenomena is exhausted, the five poisons naturally fall away to reveal the five wisdoms. You are left in an open state in which compassion arises naturally for all the sentient beings suffering within the cycles of samsara. In that moment of openness you find the strength that fuels your dharma activity. Therein lie the blessings of the dance lineage."
Similarly, for those who gaze at the rich brocades, the bodhisattvas' unblinking stares and the wisdom beings' subtle gestures, the experience is one of opening to a state beyond ordinary concepts. In this way both dancer and observer are liberated from ordinary perception.
The first Red Vajrasattva drubchen in the West began the day after the dances, with Tulku Sang-ngag acting as vajra master. This week of practice placed strong emphasis on the importance of samaya commitments, the value of confession and living with one another harmoniously. An extensive death ceremony from the terma cycle was performed for the benefit of deceased persons with whom the participants had a connection, whether positive or negative. The purpose of the ceremony was to aid in the liberation of the deceased from the six realms of cyclic existence, regardless of when they had died or where they had been reborn. Included were the names of deceased sangha members and friends who had been on the Rigdzin Ling prayer list over the past few years.
The drubchen ended with an elaborate fire puja in which the appropriate substances were gathered, multiplied by the power of practice and offered to the Buddha families of the five directions. Rain had fallen consistently, often in torrents, during the previous two weeks of practice, buton the morning of the fire puja the clouds dispersed, revealing in brilliant sunlight the colors of the freshly washed land and the ceremonial silks.
This past summer at Rigdzin Ling, two treasure cycles, The Essence of Siddhi from H. H.Khyentse Rinpoche and Red Vajrasattva from Padgyal Lingpa, were practiced extensively during two week long drubchens.
Chagdud Rinpoche has held a drubchen every year since he received The Essence of Siddhi practice from His Holiness in 1987. The Red Vajrasattva practice is one aspect of a larger treasure cycle that was revealed by Padgyal Lingpa in 1960 when he pulled a small casket containing the treasure from the waters of a poisonous lake in the Padmakod region of Tibet. At the time that Guru Rinpoche hid this treasure he prophesied that Chagdud Rinpoche would be its custodian, but Padgyal Lingpa died before he could transmit the complete cycle to him. Fortunately, Tulku Sang-ngag received the entire transmission and it was from him that Chagdud Tulku received the necessary empowerments.
Both Tulku Sang-ngag and Chagdud Rinpoche are emanations of Gyalwa Chhlog-yang, one of the twenty-five close disciples of Padmasambhava. It was most auspicious that Tulku Sang-ngag was present and seated beside Chagdud Tulku at both drubchens.
In speaking of the two terma practices, Tulku Sang-ngag said that they are of the same essence in that they focus on the Three Roots. When a group of lamas wanted to conduct an Essence of Siddhi drubchen but did not have the specific empowerment, H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche explained to them that because they had received empowerments into Padgyal Lingpa's treasure cycle and the practices are so similar in their intent, this would suffice. Thus, each of the drubchens was complete in itself, yet had a natural continuity that enhanced both occasions. During the drubchen many facets of Vajrayana activity are practiced, but the singular purpose of them all is to benefit sentient beings. Chagdud Rinpoche, teaching on the practice of visualization,stated:
"What binds us to samsara is our habit of perceiving in ordinary ways and of holding to the apparent truth of self and other. Because we give power to this dualistic perception, we have attachment to the things that we like and aversion to those we don't. To change these ordinary perceptions and purify the mind's poisons, we practice visualization, which undermines our habit of holding to phenomena as solid and inherently true. The empty, wisdom nature is revealed and we come to an understanding of things as they actually are."
The first drubchen ended on Guru Rinpoche day with a performance of ritual dances by which both lama-dancers and observers paid homage to the eight emanations of Padmasambhava. One of the dancers described it in the following way:
"When you dance, your sense of self falls away. Your movement is restricted by the weight of the brocade robes and bone ornaments. Your ability to see, hear and breathe is impaired by the mask. Lama dancing performances are not easy or comfortable. It is as though the weightiness of both the costumes and the lineage combine to exhaust you before you even take your first step. Yet despite all this discomfort, the blessings of this practice are very swift. Heartfelt prayers to the lineage masters arise spontaneously and, as your holding to ordinary phenomena is exhausted, the five poisons naturally fall away to reveal the five wisdoms. You are left in an open state in which compassion arises naturally for all the sentient beings suffering within the cycles of samsara. In that moment of openness you find the strength that fuels your dharma activity. Therein lie the blessings of the dance lineage."
Similarly, for those who gaze at the rich brocades, the bodhisattvas' unblinking stares and the wisdom beings' subtle gestures, the experience is one of opening to a state beyond ordinary concepts. In this way both dancer and observer are liberated from ordinary perception.
The first Red Vajrasattva drubchen in the West began the day after the dances, with Tulku Sang-ngag acting as vajra master. This week of practice placed strong emphasis on the importance of samaya commitments, the value of confession and living with one another harmoniously. An extensive death ceremony from the terma cycle was performed for the benefit of deceased persons with whom the participants had a connection, whether positive or negative. The purpose of the ceremony was to aid in the liberation of the deceased from the six realms of cyclic existence, regardless of when they had died or where they had been reborn. Included were the names of deceased sangha members and friends who had been on the Rigdzin Ling prayer list over the past few years.
The drubchen ended with an elaborate fire puja in which the appropriate substances were gathered, multiplied by the power of practice and offered to the Buddha families of the five directions. Rain had fallen consistently, often in torrents, during the previous two weeks of practice, buton the morning of the fire puja the clouds dispersed, revealing in brilliant sunlight the colors of the freshly washed land and the ceremonial silks.
This past summer at Rigdzin Ling, two treasure cycles, The Essence of Siddhi from H. H.Khyentse Rinpoche and Red Vajrasattva from Padgyal Lingpa, were practiced extensively during two week long drubchens.
Chagdud Rinpoche has held a drubchen every year since he received The Essence of Siddhi practice from His Holiness in 1987. The Red Vajrasattva practice is one aspect of a larger treasure cycle that was revealed by Padgyal Lingpa in 1960 when he pulled a small casket containing the treasure from the waters of a poisonous lake in the Padmakod region of Tibet. At the time that Guru Rinpoche hid this treasure he prophesied that Chagdud Rinpoche would be its custodian, but Padgyal Lingpa died before he could transmit the complete cycle to him. Fortunately, Tulku Sang-ngag received the entire transmission and it was from him that Chagdud Tulku received the necessary empowerments.
Both Tulku Sang-ngag and Chagdud Rinpoche are emanations of Gyalwa Chhlog-yang, one of the twenty-five close disciples of Padmasambhava. It was most auspicious that Tulku Sang-ngag was present and seated beside Chagdud Tulku at both drubchens.
In speaking of the two terma practices, Tulku Sang-ngag said that they are of the same essence in that they focus on the Three Roots. When a group of lamas wanted to conduct an Essence of Siddhi drubchen but did not have the specific empowerment, H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche explained to them that because they had received empowerments into Padgyal Lingpa's treasure cycle and the practices are so similar in their intent, this would suffice. Thus, each of the drubchens was complete in itself, yet had a natural continuity that enhanced both occasions. During the drubchen many facets of Vajrayana activity are practiced, but the singular purpose of them all is to benefit sentient beings. Chagdud Rinpoche, teaching on the practice of visualization,stated:
"What binds us to samsara is our habit of perceiving in ordinary ways and of holding to the apparent truth of self and other. Because we give power to this dualistic perception, we have attachment to the things that we like and aversion to those we don't. To change these ordinary perceptions and purify the mind's poisons, we practice visualization, which undermines our habit of holding to phenomena as solid and inherently true. The empty, wisdom nature is revealed and we come to an understanding of things as they actually are."
The first drubchen ended on Guru Rinpoche day with a performance of ritual dances by which both lama-dancers and observers paid homage to the eight emanations of Padmasambhava. One of the dancers described it in the following way:
"When you dance, your sense of self falls away. Your movement is restricted by the weight of the brocade robes and bone ornaments. Your ability to see, hear and breathe is impaired by the mask. Lama dancing performances are not easy or comfortable. It is as though the weightiness of both the costumes and the lineage combine to exhaust you before you even take your first step. Yet despite all this discomfort, the blessings of this practice are very swift. Heartfelt prayers to the lineage masters arise spontaneously and, as your holding to ordinary phenomena is exhausted, the five poisons naturally fall away to reveal the five wisdoms. You are left in an open state in which compassion arises naturally for all the sentient beings suffering within the cycles of samsara. In that moment of openness you find the strength that fuels your dharma activity. Therein lie the blessings of the dance lineage."
Similarly, for those who gaze at the rich brocades, the bodhisattvas' unblinking stares and the wisdom beings' subtle gestures, the experience is one of opening to a state beyond ordinary concepts. In this way both dancer and observer are liberated from ordinary perception.
The first Red Vajrasattva drubchen in the West began the day after the dances, with Tulku Sang-ngag acting as vajra master. This week of practice placed strong emphasis on the importance of samaya commitments, the value of confession and living with one another harmoniously. An extensive death ceremony from the terma cycle was performed for the benefit of deceased persons with whom the participants had a connection, whether positive or negative. The purpose of the ceremony was to aid in the liberation of the deceased from the six realms of cyclic existence, regardless of when they had died or where they had been reborn. Included were the names of deceased sangha members and friends who had been on the Rigdzin Ling prayer list over the past few years.
The drubchen ended with an elaborate fire puja in which the appropriate substances were gathered, multiplied by the power of practice and offered to the Buddha families of the five directions. Rain had fallen consistently, often in torrents, during the previous two weeks of practice, buton the morning of the fire puja the clouds dispersed, revealing in brilliant sunlight the colors of the freshly washed land and the ceremonial silks.
This past summer at Rigdzin Ling, two treasure cycles, The Essence of Siddhi from H. H.Khyentse Rinpoche and Red Vajrasattva from Padgyal Lingpa, were practiced extensively during two week long drubchens.
Chagdud Rinpoche has held a drubchen every year since he received The Essence of Siddhi practice from His Holiness in 1987. The Red Vajrasattva practice is one aspect of a larger treasure cycle that was revealed by Padgyal Lingpa in 1960 when he pulled a small casket containing the treasure from the waters of a poisonous lake in the Padmakod region of Tibet. At the time that Guru Rinpoche hid this treasure he prophesied that Chagdud Rinpoche would be its custodian, but Padgyal Lingpa died before he could transmit the complete cycle to him. Fortunately, Tulku Sang-ngag received the entire transmission and it was from him that Chagdud Tulku received the necessary empowerments.
Both Tulku Sang-ngag and Chagdud Rinpoche are emanations of Gyalwa Chhlog-yang, one of the twenty-five close disciples of Padmasambhava. It was most auspicious that Tulku Sang-ngag was present and seated beside Chagdud Tulku at both drubchens.
In speaking of the two terma practices, Tulku Sang-ngag said that they are of the same essence in that they focus on the Three Roots. When a group of lamas wanted to conduct an Essence of Siddhi drubchen but did not have the specific empowerment, H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche explained to them that because they had received empowerments into Padgyal Lingpa's treasure cycle and the practices are so similar in their intent, this would suffice. Thus, each of the drubchens was complete in itself, yet had a natural continuity that enhanced both occasions. During the drubchen many facets of Vajrayana activity are practiced, but the singular purpose of them all is to benefit sentient beings. Chagdud Rinpoche, teaching on the practice of visualization,stated:
"What binds us to samsara is our habit of perceiving in ordinary ways and of holding to the apparent truth of self and other. Because we give power to this dualistic perception, we have attachment to the things that we like and aversion to those we don't. To change these ordinary perceptions and purify the mind's poisons, we practice visualization, which undermines our habit of holding to phenomena as solid and inherently true. The empty, wisdom nature is revealed and we come to an understanding of things as they actually are."
The first drubchen ended on Guru Rinpoche day with a performance of ritual dances by which both lama-dancers and observers paid homage to the eight emanations of Padmasambhava. One of the dancers described it in the following way:
"When you dance, your sense of self falls away. Your movement is restricted by the weight of the brocade robes and bone ornaments. Your ability to see, hear and breathe is impaired by the mask. Lama dancing performances are not easy or comfortable. It is as though the weightiness of both the costumes and the lineage combine to exhaust you before you even take your first step. Yet despite all this discomfort, the blessings of this practice are very swift. Heartfelt prayers to the lineage masters arise spontaneously and, as your holding to ordinary phenomena is exhausted, the five poisons naturally fall away to reveal the five wisdoms. You are left in an open state in which compassion arises naturally for all the sentient beings suffering within the cycles of samsara. In that moment of openness you find the strength that fuels your dharma activity. Therein lie the blessings of the dance lineage."
Similarly, for those who gaze at the rich brocades, the bodhisattvas' unblinking stares and the wisdom beings' subtle gestures, the experience is one of opening to a state beyond ordinary concepts. In this way both dancer and observer are liberated from ordinary perception.
The first Red Vajrasattva drubchen in the West began the day after the dances, with Tulku Sang-ngag acting as vajra master. This week of practice placed strong emphasis on the importance of samaya commitments, the value of confession and living with one another harmoniously. An extensive death ceremony from the terma cycle was performed for the benefit of deceased persons with whom the participants had a connection, whether positive or negative. The purpose of the ceremony was to aid in the liberation of the deceased from the six realms of cyclic existence, regardless of when they had died or where they had been reborn. Included were the names of deceased sangha members and friends who had been on the Rigdzin Ling prayer list over the past few years.
The drubchen ended with an elaborate fire puja in which the appropriate substances were gathered, multiplied by the power of practice and offered to the Buddha families of the five directions. Rain had fallen consistently, often in torrents, during the previous two weeks of practice, buton the morning of the fire puja the clouds dispersed, revealing in brilliant sunlight the colors of the freshly washed land and the ceremonial silks.
