Chagdud Gonpa's first children's retreat took place last summer at Rigdzin Ling under the guidance of Lama Drimed, Drusilla Lopez, and Mayche Cech. The children, in two age groups–teens and what came to be known as the "Little Rascals"–strung malas, made tormas, printed prayer flags, and planted flowers around the Guru Rinpoche statue. They received instruction in performing mudras and in Tara practice and enjoyed frequent breaks swimming in the Guru Rinpoche pond and in the Trinity River with their parents. Parents accompanied the younger children throughout their activities, while the teens were distinctly peer-oriented. The weekend was a refreshingly informal way for children to be introduced to the Vajrayana. Some post-retreat comments from the children illustrate their anticipation of the upcoming children's retreat this summer:
"I had a lot of fun on the weekend. But I would have liked it if it had Lasted longer. I had already had Tara empowerment, but I never understood it very well. Now I've gotten teachings and I know more about Tara."
Kirsten Miller, age 11
I had a great time at the weekend. I hope there will be another one soon."
Brett Miller, age 11
"The Red Tara empowerment performed by Wyn was definitely a highlight of the retreat. It was great the way he did it all in English, focusing on each kid with mantra and blessing. To help us with our visualization, we were each given a Line drawing of Tara to paint Like a t'hangka. Wyn had us Look at and meditate on our picture and then turn it over so we could see the afterimage rainbow body of Tara. At the end of the weekend, we Lined the t'hangkas up on the altar. They made a beautiful and radiant contribution to the mandala.
"The night before the weekend ended we started talking about how fun it would be to do a play next year. Then we thought, 'Why don't we do it this year? We could do it on the last day as an offering for the tsog!' Also, the Little Rascals had been preparing a presentation with Mayche. And so we thought it would be neat to share these offerings. We threw together costumes and planned out the play. Fortunately, I knew Rinpoche's story of 'Aji! Aji! Your nose looks like a raksha bead. So I narrated the play while the other kids in the teen group acted it out. When we performed it the next day, the audience (mostly parents and Little Rascals) loved it. Afterwards everybody sang along with the Little Rascals as they did their song and dance to Om Tare Tam So Ha. It was great."
Sena Cech, age 12
This story of Rinpoche' s that Sena narrates is about a man who had such great faith in his lama that he took an exclamation from him–that his nose looked like a raksha bead–to be a blessing, and repeated it as one would a mantra with such diligence that he gained the ability to heal others with it. He became well known throughout the region as a healer. He was eventually called to the monastery of his gravely ill lama who was not responding to any medical treatment. When he repeated the mantra, "Aji !Aji ! Your nose looks like a raksha bead," the lama burst into laughter and was immediately healed.
Chagdud Gonpa's first children's retreat took place last summer at Rigdzin Ling under the guidance of Lama Drimed, Drusilla Lopez, and Mayche Cech. The children, in two age groups–teens and what came to be known as the "Little Rascals"–strung malas, made tormas, printed prayer flags, and planted flowers around the Guru Rinpoche statue. They received instruction in performing mudras and in Tara practice and enjoyed frequent breaks swimming in the Guru Rinpoche pond and in the Trinity River with their parents. Parents accompanied the younger children throughout their activities, while the teens were distinctly peer-oriented. The weekend was a refreshingly informal way for children to be introduced to the Vajrayana. Some post-retreat comments from the children illustrate their anticipation of the upcoming children's retreat this summer:
"I had a lot of fun on the weekend. But I would have liked it if it had Lasted longer. I had already had Tara empowerment, but I never understood it very well. Now I've gotten teachings and I know more about Tara."
Kirsten Miller, age 11
I had a great time at the weekend. I hope there will be another one soon."
Brett Miller, age 11
"The Red Tara empowerment performed by Wyn was definitely a highlight of the retreat. It was great the way he did it all in English, focusing on each kid with mantra and blessing. To help us with our visualization, we were each given a Line drawing of Tara to paint Like a t'hangka. Wyn had us Look at and meditate on our picture and then turn it over so we could see the afterimage rainbow body of Tara. At the end of the weekend, we Lined the t'hangkas up on the altar. They made a beautiful and radiant contribution to the mandala.
"The night before the weekend ended we started talking about how fun it would be to do a play next year. Then we thought, 'Why don't we do it this year? We could do it on the last day as an offering for the tsog!' Also, the Little Rascals had been preparing a presentation with Mayche. And so we thought it would be neat to share these offerings. We threw together costumes and planned out the play. Fortunately, I knew Rinpoche's story of 'Aji! Aji! Your nose looks like a raksha bead. So I narrated the play while the other kids in the teen group acted it out. When we performed it the next day, the audience (mostly parents and Little Rascals) loved it. Afterwards everybody sang along with the Little Rascals as they did their song and dance to Om Tare Tam So Ha. It was great."
Sena Cech, age 12
This story of Rinpoche' s that Sena narrates is about a man who had such great faith in his lama that he took an exclamation from him–that his nose looked like a raksha bead–to be a blessing, and repeated it as one would a mantra with such diligence that he gained the ability to heal others with it. He became well known throughout the region as a healer. He was eventually called to the monastery of his gravely ill lama who was not responding to any medical treatment. When he repeated the mantra, "Aji !Aji ! Your nose looks like a raksha bead," the lama burst into laughter and was immediately healed.
Chagdud Gonpa's first children's retreat took place last summer at Rigdzin Ling under the guidance of Lama Drimed, Drusilla Lopez, and Mayche Cech. The children, in two age groups–teens and what came to be known as the "Little Rascals"–strung malas, made tormas, printed prayer flags, and planted flowers around the Guru Rinpoche statue. They received instruction in performing mudras and in Tara practice and enjoyed frequent breaks swimming in the Guru Rinpoche pond and in the Trinity River with their parents. Parents accompanied the younger children throughout their activities, while the teens were distinctly peer-oriented. The weekend was a refreshingly informal way for children to be introduced to the Vajrayana. Some post-retreat comments from the children illustrate their anticipation of the upcoming children's retreat this summer:
"I had a lot of fun on the weekend. But I would have liked it if it had Lasted longer. I had already had Tara empowerment, but I never understood it very well. Now I've gotten teachings and I know more about Tara."
Kirsten Miller, age 11
I had a great time at the weekend. I hope there will be another one soon."
Brett Miller, age 11
"The Red Tara empowerment performed by Wyn was definitely a highlight of the retreat. It was great the way he did it all in English, focusing on each kid with mantra and blessing. To help us with our visualization, we were each given a Line drawing of Tara to paint Like a t'hangka. Wyn had us Look at and meditate on our picture and then turn it over so we could see the afterimage rainbow body of Tara. At the end of the weekend, we Lined the t'hangkas up on the altar. They made a beautiful and radiant contribution to the mandala.
"The night before the weekend ended we started talking about how fun it would be to do a play next year. Then we thought, 'Why don't we do it this year? We could do it on the last day as an offering for the tsog!' Also, the Little Rascals had been preparing a presentation with Mayche. And so we thought it would be neat to share these offerings. We threw together costumes and planned out the play. Fortunately, I knew Rinpoche's story of 'Aji! Aji! Your nose looks like a raksha bead. So I narrated the play while the other kids in the teen group acted it out. When we performed it the next day, the audience (mostly parents and Little Rascals) loved it. Afterwards everybody sang along with the Little Rascals as they did their song and dance to Om Tare Tam So Ha. It was great."
Sena Cech, age 12
This story of Rinpoche' s that Sena narrates is about a man who had such great faith in his lama that he took an exclamation from him–that his nose looked like a raksha bead–to be a blessing, and repeated it as one would a mantra with such diligence that he gained the ability to heal others with it. He became well known throughout the region as a healer. He was eventually called to the monastery of his gravely ill lama who was not responding to any medical treatment. When he repeated the mantra, "Aji !Aji ! Your nose looks like a raksha bead," the lama burst into laughter and was immediately healed.
Chagdud Gonpa's first children's retreat took place last summer at Rigdzin Ling under the guidance of Lama Drimed, Drusilla Lopez, and Mayche Cech. The children, in two age groups–teens and what came to be known as the "Little Rascals"–strung malas, made tormas, printed prayer flags, and planted flowers around the Guru Rinpoche statue. They received instruction in performing mudras and in Tara practice and enjoyed frequent breaks swimming in the Guru Rinpoche pond and in the Trinity River with their parents. Parents accompanied the younger children throughout their activities, while the teens were distinctly peer-oriented. The weekend was a refreshingly informal way for children to be introduced to the Vajrayana. Some post-retreat comments from the children illustrate their anticipation of the upcoming children's retreat this summer:
"I had a lot of fun on the weekend. But I would have liked it if it had Lasted longer. I had already had Tara empowerment, but I never understood it very well. Now I've gotten teachings and I know more about Tara."
Kirsten Miller, age 11
I had a great time at the weekend. I hope there will be another one soon."
Brett Miller, age 11
"The Red Tara empowerment performed by Wyn was definitely a highlight of the retreat. It was great the way he did it all in English, focusing on each kid with mantra and blessing. To help us with our visualization, we were each given a Line drawing of Tara to paint Like a t'hangka. Wyn had us Look at and meditate on our picture and then turn it over so we could see the afterimage rainbow body of Tara. At the end of the weekend, we Lined the t'hangkas up on the altar. They made a beautiful and radiant contribution to the mandala.
"The night before the weekend ended we started talking about how fun it would be to do a play next year. Then we thought, 'Why don't we do it this year? We could do it on the last day as an offering for the tsog!' Also, the Little Rascals had been preparing a presentation with Mayche. And so we thought it would be neat to share these offerings. We threw together costumes and planned out the play. Fortunately, I knew Rinpoche's story of 'Aji! Aji! Your nose looks like a raksha bead. So I narrated the play while the other kids in the teen group acted it out. When we performed it the next day, the audience (mostly parents and Little Rascals) loved it. Afterwards everybody sang along with the Little Rascals as they did their song and dance to Om Tare Tam So Ha. It was great."
Sena Cech, age 12
This story of Rinpoche' s that Sena narrates is about a man who had such great faith in his lama that he took an exclamation from him–that his nose looked like a raksha bead–to be a blessing, and repeated it as one would a mantra with such diligence that he gained the ability to heal others with it. He became well known throughout the region as a healer. He was eventually called to the monastery of his gravely ill lama who was not responding to any medical treatment. When he repeated the mantra, "Aji !Aji ! Your nose looks like a raksha bead," the lama burst into laughter and was immediately healed.
Chagdud Gonpa's first children's retreat took place last summer at Rigdzin Ling under the guidance of Lama Drimed, Drusilla Lopez, and Mayche Cech. The children, in two age groups–teens and what came to be known as the "Little Rascals"–strung malas, made tormas, printed prayer flags, and planted flowers around the Guru Rinpoche statue. They received instruction in performing mudras and in Tara practice and enjoyed frequent breaks swimming in the Guru Rinpoche pond and in the Trinity River with their parents. Parents accompanied the younger children throughout their activities, while the teens were distinctly peer-oriented. The weekend was a refreshingly informal way for children to be introduced to the Vajrayana. Some post-retreat comments from the children illustrate their anticipation of the upcoming children's retreat this summer:
"I had a lot of fun on the weekend. But I would have liked it if it had Lasted longer. I had already had Tara empowerment, but I never understood it very well. Now I've gotten teachings and I know more about Tara."
Kirsten Miller, age 11
I had a great time at the weekend. I hope there will be another one soon."
Brett Miller, age 11
"The Red Tara empowerment performed by Wyn was definitely a highlight of the retreat. It was great the way he did it all in English, focusing on each kid with mantra and blessing. To help us with our visualization, we were each given a Line drawing of Tara to paint Like a t'hangka. Wyn had us Look at and meditate on our picture and then turn it over so we could see the afterimage rainbow body of Tara. At the end of the weekend, we Lined the t'hangkas up on the altar. They made a beautiful and radiant contribution to the mandala.
"The night before the weekend ended we started talking about how fun it would be to do a play next year. Then we thought, 'Why don't we do it this year? We could do it on the last day as an offering for the tsog!' Also, the Little Rascals had been preparing a presentation with Mayche. And so we thought it would be neat to share these offerings. We threw together costumes and planned out the play. Fortunately, I knew Rinpoche's story of 'Aji! Aji! Your nose looks like a raksha bead. So I narrated the play while the other kids in the teen group acted it out. When we performed it the next day, the audience (mostly parents and Little Rascals) loved it. Afterwards everybody sang along with the Little Rascals as they did their song and dance to Om Tare Tam So Ha. It was great."
Sena Cech, age 12
This story of Rinpoche' s that Sena narrates is about a man who had such great faith in his lama that he took an exclamation from him–that his nose looked like a raksha bead–to be a blessing, and repeated it as one would a mantra with such diligence that he gained the ability to heal others with it. He became well known throughout the region as a healer. He was eventually called to the monastery of his gravely ill lama who was not responding to any medical treatment. When he repeated the mantra, "Aji !Aji ! Your nose looks like a raksha bead," the lama burst into laughter and was immediately healed.
