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    THE MIRRORNewspaperof the International DzogchenCommunity March2001/AprH2001 IssueNo. 56

    FEBRUARY2001

    CHGYALNAMKHAINORBUmakesan

    HistoricVisit to Chile

    DECEMBER-JANUARY,2000-2001

    T H E M A N Y F R U I T S O F O N E T A S T E ,

    M E E T I N G THE ELE ME NT S :

    T A S H I G A R C H R I S T M A S RETREAT

    by Jacqueline Gens

    An historievisitwasmadeto our country dur

    ing the first week of February by our

    beloved Master, Chgyal Namkhai Norbu.

    It was the first time that a large and lucky group of

    Chileans could benefit from the extraordinaryDzogchen teachings given by the most outstanding

    teacherofDzogchenof modem times.

    The point of contact for the Teacher and the

    Chileans,who had waited for years for his presencein

    our country, was thecapital,Santiago.Luckily,Santiago

    was less congested than normal due to vacation time.

    The first public activity was on January 31st; Rin-

    poche gave a talk entitled "Introduction to the

    Dzogchen",and spoke to a very respectful group of two

    hundred people-

    On the 3rd, 4th and 5th of February, theretreattook

    place in the Center of Exercises of the Jesuit Order of

    the Catholic Church on the edgeof Santiago. Eighty

    people - including some visitors from New Zealand,

    NorthAmerica,Austria, Argentina,Italy and Germany -attendedthe teachings i n a largehalli n the mfddle-of the

    natureand in anatmosphereofrespect and admiration.

    Theretreat was complemented with the practice of

    YantraYogataughtbyFabioAndricowhere we focused

    on the Nine Purification Breathings and The Eight

    Movements.

    Recentlywe received an invitation from Tashigar to

    celebrate Losar. This brought much joy to the Chilean

    group managing the birth of the Dzogchen Community

    in Chile!

    CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU- INTERNATIONALPROGRAM2001-2002

    2 0 0 1

    MARGARITA ISLAND

    Easter Retreat

    March 30th-April3rd

    USA,WESTCOAST

    April27th

    Leave for San Francisco

    May 1st

    Public Talk:Introduction to Dzogchen

    May 2nd-6th

    West Coast Retreat

    May 8th

    Leave for Seattle

    May 9th

    Publictalk: Introduction toDzogchen,Seattle

    May 10th

    Leavefor Portland

    May 13th-16thH.H. theDalaiLama's teaching, Portland

    May 18th-20th

    PortlandRetreat

    RUSSIA, KUNSANGAR

    SANTIMAHASANCHA

    May 27th-29th

    SM S BaseLevelExam

    May 30th-June 5th

    SM S ILevelTraining

    June6th-8th

    SM S ILevelExam

    June 9th-13thSM S LevelIITraining

    June 15th-21st

    Kunsangar Retreat

    SantiMahaSangha

    June 22nd-23rd

    SMS OLevelExam

    June 24th-28th

    SM S IIILevelTraining

    ITALY, M ERIG A R

    July6th-10th MerigarRetreat

    July17th-August6th

    PersonalretreatofChgyalNamkhaiNorbu

    August 10th-19th

    Merigar Retreat

    SantiMahaSangha

    August21st-23rd

    SM S BaseLevelExamAugust24th-28th

    SM S ILevelTraining

    September 7th-17th

    Vacationin Sardegna

    SantiMahaSangha

    September 23rd-25th

    SM S IIlevel Exam

    September 26th- 30th

    SM S l uLevelTraining

    October 7th

    Leave forMargaritaIsland

    continuedonpage6

    SEE CONTACTS IN COMMUNITY NEWS page I3

    Argentina seems a compelling country filledwithmagical beauty and

    gigantic contradictions. Its naturaltreasures have been extolled asamong the world's finest - places

    like Terra del Fuego, Patagonia.

    Thenthereare the haunting culturalimages -Evita,the legacy of the los

    Disaparades, from the all too recentmilitaryjuntasof 1977-1983, tango,the world monetary market in theinternational news. Once last year, I

    read in the New York Times thatArgentina has the world's highestconcentration of psychologists percapita. But walking down the

    street, it seems most everyone

    looks like a moviestar.With suchbeauty what need istherefor therapy. For me, one of thegreatculturalrevelations invisitingArgentinaforthe first time, was the experience ofsummer in winter, not just weather-wise but seasonally. Foruntil then,itnever occurred to methathalf the

    world live s in a different seasonal

    reality south of the equator. One

    thinks of the seasons as indelibleand fixed but apparently thatis notthe case.

    Al l of these somewhat superficial

    observations melted quickly awayonce in the tangible embrace of ourTashigar Community with theirgenuine hospitality and endlessovertures of friendlinesswithmuchkissingat every opportunity - this Inoticed, a universal custom inArgentina. So ubiquitous is thiscustom, it amused me, when even

    at airline counters, all businessstopped as girls returning from alunch break went around to everyone down the line behind thecounter for kisses and more kisses.Argentinaseemsthe ultimate Padmaenergyi ntermsofnational styles.Tashigar is nestled in the hills outside Tanti, a small town whichsome of usjokingly referred to as

    the town time forgot. Everything

    about this place reminded me of myrural California childhood in the1950's with its dusty roads andsmall rancheros surrounding itsoutskirts, early model BigAmerican made cars, with scatteredhorse, cattle and crowing roosterswandering about without bound

    aries or from the vantage ofTashigar itself higher up - theAmericanSouth West region of theFourComers with vast unpopulated vistas. Artistically, this area tooseemed rich in stories, as yetunwritten, magnificent paintings ofsky - forhereon the higher groundofTashigar,all is space.

    The landitself is a spectacular bio-

    region of wild life; exotic plantsand startlingly vivid elementswherewind iswind,hailand lightening can flash in aheartbeat.Handcarved into a rock is the wordZergnamadeby Rinpoche. A storywas toldone day, as we passed the

    rock on our way up the hill, that

    Rinpochewh ile carving it sat on an

    anthill. When people pointed this

    out tohim, he saidthatwas all rightbecausetheywouldsomeday be hisstudents.This is a place, no doubt,empowered for realization and oneinwhichthe elements seem to manifest so dramatically. It is also aslightly dangerous environmentwith spiders, poisonous snakes,iguanas andabundantinsect life.Terrified of snakes, I must say, Ihad unusually greater presence ofmind than usual in regard to whereIput myfeetandhands- just as theTashigar retreatguidelines recommended. Duringthe actualretreat,Ishared a house with an Argentineman and his Spanish wife, Anita,down the road from Tashigar. Anative from Cordoba, this man,

    Ruben, was particularly concernedthat Tashigar did not have an anti-

    continued on page 3

    C O N T E N T S

    TEACHING:Awarenessas

    I PracticeinDaily Life

    I ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

    f l Santi Maha Sangha

    I and Karma Yoga

    I ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

    R H RespectingOthers

    I Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

    im,-m Milarepa,

    I The

    Great MagicianI JuliaLawlessandJudy Allen

    Briga BookReviews

    H p g j Tormas atTashigar

    I RitaBizzotto

    B r J V Practice Calendar

    I InternationalContacts

    feti] International

    I CommunityNews

    H M B Reflections

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    Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

    Inalifetime,most importantishowwe dodailypractice,so the most important thing I can doisto informyou how to dodailypractices.

    Evenifwe have learned different methodsofpractice,we can't apply everythingdaily.Sincethis is the case,it's very importantthatwe integrate practice into ourlives.Integrating practice intodaily lifedoesn't meanwe dedicate one hour or a few hours of practice into aday. That is good, butstillwe have many hours. Weknowthatinone day we have twenty-four hours, so tointegrate means we integrate in the practice for twenty-four hours. If we don't understand thatprinciplethen we can'thaverealization.Because we arelivingwithdualisticvisionand we arealwaysdistracted, we make many kinds of actionsand produce negative karma.Evenif we do four orfivehours of practice a day, it can't compare to howdistracted we are and how many negative actions wemake.Alreadywe have so much negative karma; topurify is not so easy. Therefore it's most importantthatweknowhow to integrate practice intodailylife.

    Firstofall,when you are thinking of what practicemeans, you need to have a precise idea.Manypeopleconsiderpractice chanting mantras or sitting; doingsome rituals, etc.Thisis practice, but not the mainpractice.Themainpractice isthat,firstofall,we discover our instant presence and then we integrate in

    thatstatein any moment. It is not so easy for us toalwaysbe in instant presence, but when we have thepossibilitywe try. We try to be aware and not distracted and try to be aware of our life andcircumstance.

    Sotheseare the most important practices; if we areaware andweknowhow the circumstanceis,wehaveless problems. Our practices become more concrete.Tobe aware means we also know what our possibilities are. Some people have a very nice idea and theysay, "Oh I want to dedicate all mylifeto practice".Thisis a good idea, but not so easy, particularly forpeople who have the idea to escape fromour societyorordinarycondition.That means they are not learning or training how to integrate life into practice.Theyare alwaysthinking, "Thissituation is samsara,veryheavy, I want to escape."Butthatisnot thesolution,you can escapefromthis situation but whenyouarrivesomewhere else youcreatethe same situation.Maybeyou have the idea,"I don't want tocreatethissituationanymore. I wantonlyto be a practitioner ona mountain,livingin a cave, etc."Firstofall,thatisnot so easyinour modem society becauseyouhave aphysical body and you are dependent on food andyour situation,and evenifthereare somepossibilitiesand you think, "Now I have peace", it's not true. Ifyoudo notfindpeaceinside,youcan'tfindpeace outside.Maybe youhave no problems whereyouare, butyouarrive in a cave on a mountain, and maybe youhave a problem there.

    Iremember once when I was thirteen years old, Ireceiveda very important teachingfromone of myDzogchenteachers. When I finished this teaching Iwent to doaretreatofNzndzogGyalpoofDzogchenLongde,and I was in a very isolatedretreatplace; averynice place in the forest under arock.It was reallya verynicehousethatbelonged to one ofmy relations,and it isa verysacredplace.Theywanted me tolivethereand do service for me.'Doingservice'did

    n't mean someonelivedthereand always cooked anddid service everyday; someone came and broughtfoodeverythreedays or so. So I livedthere, and onthefirstdayIfelt fantastic and it wasreallyvery silentandvery nice,butwhennighttimestartedIfelt afraid.Thishouse was under rock and on top of the rock tenor fifteen wolves gathered and howled and madenoise.When I wassmallI already felt afraid of thissound;and this time I also felt alittleafraid anddidn't feel really peaceful. The next day when Ididpracticetherewas not as much noise as at night, but thenhundreds of monkeys arrived. When I did practicesilentlythe monkeys came in thewindowand tried toopen the window. The whole time I couldn't findpeace. In the day and night time,therewere alwayssome problems and, of course, then I didn't knowverymuch about integrating. I always felt distractedwiththis practice.Later I met my teacher ChangchubDorjeand the Dzogchen teaching, and then I understoodthesolutionis not escape but integration.

    Whenwe are disturbed it is mainly related to ourtensions.Forexample,ifIamsittingheretryingto dopractice and someone comesfromoutside and makesnoise,then Ifeel, "Oh,thereis someoneheremakingnoise and I amherepeacefullydoingpractice andthatperson is not paying respect to me and my practiceand now I feel disturbed". IfIfeelthat, thatismytension.If I have this tension today, tomorrow I feelmore than yesterday and I think,"Stillthis person istheremaking noise". Day after day tensions develop.Then,in the end, I decide to escape fromthis place.Soyou see, where the root of the problem is and towhat the tensions arerelated. Ifwe are integrating andwe arereallyininstant presence and integrated;ifweare on a mountain in a cave in silence or we are in arailwaystation, forexample,thereis not much difference because noise and movement,everything,is partofour energy. We do not remain in a dualistic wayand we integrate and integration means in a non dualway.Our tensions disappear, this is the method ofhowwe integrate indaily life.It is something very,

    C H G Y A L N A M K H A I N O R B U

    NEW YEAR'S DAYTEACHING

    AWARENESSASPRACTICE IN DAILYLIFE

    TASHIGAR, ARGENTINA,JANUARY1ST2001

    veryimportantintheDzogchen teaching.Ourlifeismovement, not peaceful, but we knowthatmovement is part of our energy. We do not think, "I amhereandthereis movement, and movementcreatesproblems for me"; we do not fall into a dualisticviewand movement does notcreateproblems.

    Forexample,when weflyin an airplane, sometimeswe feel the airplane ismakinga lot ofnoise.Ifyouhavethatidea, "There is noise and I am disturbed",youalwaysfeel more disturbed. Butifyouintegrateyoudon't feel disturbed atall.Yousee, for example,the airplane soundslikeAh.Sometimes the airplaneis singingHum.Whenyou are inside you areinthesoundofHumandAh;youdon'talwaysneed to sayAhandHum,the airplane helpsyou.So you are inthat statein an integrated way instead of creatingproblems;youreallyhave benefit. Thatisanexampleofhowwecanintegrateeverything intoourlives. Forthat reason we don't need to change anything, wedon't need to change our dress, our attitude, our way

    ofbeing; howitis,weremainthatwayand we accepthowlifeis.

    Somepeople, for example, have a business or ashop, they spend many years working to earnmoney and then they feel more interestedinpracticeand teaching. They don't feel to dothatwork anymore. The work becomes negative or an obstaclefortheir practice. That is not true.Youmustliveinsociety.Youhave done this workuntilnow and areearning money; you are living.Of course if youfindabetterway to earn money, you can change.Otherwise, thatIS your condition andthat,is notnegative at all.So you can integrate your job andworkin the practice.Youthink, "How can I integrateworkingin a shop?', but it can be anykindofworkwhichwe can integrate. Evenif we have nopossibilityto chant or workwithmantras, we canalways workwithawareness.Wecan alwaysbe presentinsteadofdistracted;thatisthe practice ofintegration.If we have a business or work in a shop, i fwe use awareness and are not distracted, then ourworkgoesbetter.When you have tensions younotice them and don't give too much importance to them; then also your work doesn'tbecome very heavy. That's anexample;thereis always thepossibilityto integrate.

    Sowe must know how ourconditioninlifeis, firstofall.Forexample,weliveinsociety andinsocietyeveryone does something. If we don't, we can't earnmoney andlive.Weknowwe can integrate anykindofpractice inthatjob.For example, what do we doearlyinthemorning?Wewake up and immediatelythinkof breakfast, we go in the shop, in theschool,orwork in theoffice,etc.Lookat what we do, weworkcontinuously,atmidday we eat, maybethereisalittlespace of time and we work again, then wereturn home and feel tired, welookat alittleTVtoknowwhat the news is, even if we don't have very

    muchenergy tolookattelevision,etc., everyday we

    workand feel tired, so what do we do? We go tobed.Andtomorrow what do we do? The same. Wedo the same as we did today, and the day aftertomorrow,the same, and inthatway we go aheadandthatiscalledsamsara. Then we go ahead andthink,"Oh,herecomes the weekend!", and we waitforthe weekend.Whenthe weekend arrives we arehappy, but in the real sense it means we havealready spent seven days in ourlife,seven days arealreadyfinished;seven days less in ourlife.Thisisnot really a happy circumstance, but we are happybecause we think we have more free time and weshoulddo something, we think,"Ohnow I do practice,I have the idea to do some practice ortraining,etc.", and we think the weekend is free, but nextweekend is also not free, for example,thereis thebirthdayof parents, of friends, someone is gettingmarried,orthereare important things to do, peopleto meet or we must go somewhere. Most of thetime,the weekend is also occupied, so our idea ofdoingpractice is verydifficult.When wefinishthe

    weekend what do we do? The same. Werepeatanother weekend, we are waiting for the weekend.Thenwe wait for another weekend and have passedfourteen days of our life, and inthatway we aregoingon for months, years and then wefinishourlife.It is not sufficient toonlyhave agoodidea, butitis importantthatwe deal concretelywithpracticeinalifetime.

    So,how do westartto do practice?Whenwe wakeup we immediately remember Guruyoga. Weremember thewhiteAandthigle.It is also possibleifwe sleep alone we can alsosoundAh.If we soundAhwe can have more ofthatpresence ofvisualization.If we sleepwithourfriend,husband,wife,etc.,then we can't make sound, because when you wakeup your friend might stillbe asleep and you mustrespect your friend. You can't sing, but it's alsoenough when you exhale and are in the presenceofAh. In this presence you relax and try to be in

    instant presence, evenifyouareonlyinthat stateforafew seconds.ThisisGuruyoga.Afterthatyou goto the toilet, the bathroom, you wash and have contact withthe water element, and then you can usethe mantra ofpurification: "Eho Shudde Shudde"and ifyoudopurificationof the water element in avery short way you do "Om Bamho ShuddeShodanayeSvaha".Ifyouchant this mantra and usewater or have contactwithwater, then it becomespurification.So you don't need preparation withaceremony orritual. Naturally,when you have contactwithelements you always usewhich elementcorrespondswiththatmantra.When yougo outsideandthereiswind,air element, you go"OmYamhoShudde Shodanaye Svaha".With the heatof sunshine orwith fire,etc., you useOmRamho ShuddeShodanaye Svaha. When you chant this mantra, ofcourse, you must also be awarethatifyouarewithmany people,particularlyif they are not practitioners and you chant mantras, or you do somethingamong people you don'tknow,it is not good. Youmust keep mantra secret. Ifyoukeep it secret it has

    more function. Ifyoudo not keep the mantra secret,then the mantra has no function forYOU,it doesn'tmean the mantra loses function in general. So it'sveryimportant to keep secret. Of course, it is notnecessary to keep secret among practitioners.Sometimes when we use mantra of prayer or some

    thingpubliclyinfrontof people who are not practitioners, then it becomes a kind of exhibition.Thefirst thingisthatitisnotgoodfor our samaya, and thesecond thing isthatthe mantra can lose its function.Thethirdreasonisthatpeoplewillconsiderthatyouare astrangeperson. Ifyousay something, forexample, in arestaurant,and you think, "I am eating. Ishould do a Ganapuja", and you say "Ram YamKam,OmAh Hum",etc., at your table and peoplelookatyouand think you areabnormal.Ifyouare apractitioner you must not show anything outside.Showingtoo much outside means thereis nothinginside.It is not necessarythatwe showanything,butwe keep itinourselves and dopractice.Weintegrate.

    Alsoit is very important indaily lifeto try and beaware and not distracted. I alreadytoldyouthat thatisnot instant presence; being in presence means wehave a kind of attention. Instant presence has noattention, it is beyond attention; but if you are presentwithattention in general then it is very easy tointegrateininstant presence.Youshould learn this indaily life. Sometimes, for example, you are livingalone in your a house andthereis no one andthereisnothing very much to do and you observe whatyouarethinking,for exampleyouthink,"Oh,I wantto gointhe kitchen and take a bottleofbeer orwine,and sitinthe sunshine and Idrink".That is a way torelax.Butthen you are not doing this in a distractedway; you notice you are thinking to go in thekitchen, then you take a kindof commitment, "Idon't want to be distracteduntilI arrive in the sunshinewitha beer". Thenyounotice,now I am goinginthe kitchen and then you get up and you notice, Iamwalkingand now I amlookingwhere the beer isand where the glass is, now I am taking the beer,nowI'mreturning,and you arrivetherein the sunshine, now I amsitting,now Idrink,now I'm enjoying,soyoualwayshave presence.Youcan learn this,itisnot sodifficultatall. Ofcourseifpeople haven'tlearned this it can bedifficult, buteverything,once

    youhave learned, becomes very easy.

    Forexample, when you started to drive a car, was iteasy or not? It was not easy atall!Butonce we leamhow,we develop presence fordrivinga car and intheend,we can leam to be presentwhiledriving.Wedrivethe car, we talkwith friends, welookto theright and leftside,but we are always present and wedrivethe car on the road. If we are distracted, thenwe have an accident. But this presence isonlyfordrivinga car;thereare many things in our life tolearn,so we canleam.Thisis a very important practice.To do this practice you don't need a specificplace,time or condition.If you go in a shop, youthink," I am going in a shop, now I open the door, Ihavearrived inside,someoneis coming,Iamtalkingwiththatperson";youdon't need to be distracted andthereis always thepossibilityofhavingpresence.

    In a lifetime if you are not distracted and havepresence, you won't have any problems. You see,whenwe do many thingsindailylifewe make manymistakes. We have so many problems, particularlywhenwe are charged, and wecreatemore problems.That means we are totally distracted or charged;otherwise if we are present there is noreasonwhywewouldbe chargedthatway.Whenweare cutting meat or vegetables to prepare food,instead ofcuttingfoodwe cut our finger. That is anaspect of distraction and that is created by ourtensions.So,thatiswhyitisvery important we leampresence and in our lifetime we dealwiththis.

    This is presence and practice. We can't say,"Ican't do practice". When we finish theretreat,some people write letters and email to me and say,"Iwas very happywiththisretreat,I learned somepractice,etc., butnowI can't do anypractice.There isnopossibility,no time, etc." So, I am not saying youshould alwaysdo practice bysittingandchantinganddoing visualizations. How can you say, "I

    can't do practice ofbeingaware" ?Youcan be awareinany moment, it isbetterforyou.Ifyoudon't wantto do this practice, or you don't considerthatit is apractice,thatis anotherquestion.Butifyouconsiderthisispractice,thenyoucando itinany moment, anycircumstance.Whenyouarewalking,sittingorworking;inany moment when you try to be aware, this ispractice.Beingaware is somethinglikeakey,also todiscoveringyour tensions, your attachments and alltheseproblems.Ofcourse, ifyouhave tensions andallthesekinds ofproblems,then you know what theroot of the problem is and you liberate.

    2

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    A M E S S A G E TO ALL GARS, GAKYILS ANDPRACTITIONERS OF DZOGCHEN COMMUNITY OF THEWORLD

    SantiMaha Sangha

    andKarmaYogaf r o m C h g y a l N a m k h a i N o r b u

    venomkit on hand in the event ofsnakebite. So wasI.Thi s wasall themore unsettling since a few weeksprevious to the retreat, I had heardfrom Melissa, ingreatdetail abouta viper, which had found its wayinto the main dorm space and hercapture ofit.I hesitated to say anythinglest people think I was beingproblematical and 'typically' anAmerican but given the amount of

    children around, it seemed prudentnot to waituntilsomeone one day isactuallybitten. But Ruben carefullyinstructed me to keep the doors tothe little casa closed, which I diddiligently, lest one of these snakes(by now looming large in myimagination)make its way into ourhouse. On the other hand, not beingparticularly afraid of spiders, theywere ever-present and interesting towatch. Little baby scorpions scuttledbrisklyacross our kitchen flooreach morning with their littlepinchers held open as in anembrace as they rushed toward one.Thinking of the associationbetween Padmasambhava andscorpions, I was slightly more

    accommodating to their presencethan say the hairy tarantulas andbrown recluse creeping along theroof rafters outside and simplyswept them gently out the dooreach morning.

    Summer being at its height, eachnighttherewere flashes of what wecallhere, 'June Bugs', whose phosphorescent lights danced to soundsofnightcreatures and sometimes abackground of lightening flashes.The night sky, too, was incandescent with marvelous constellationsI had never before observed firsthand from south of the Equator.Fruit trees heaved with abundantfruits -plums, peaches, figs fromwhichevery morning for breakfast

    therewere a variety of homemadejams - to go with toasted bread.Several species of birds soundedcontinuously - especially one birdwho over and over sounded threedistinct syllables - a real Vajracuckoo.Agrapearbor loaded withclusters of still unripened grapeslent a charming rustic quality to thelittlecasitas, whichI was told, wasbuilt by an elderly couple - eachmarriedto others, as their romantichideaway. I was intrigued one daybyGlenEddy's story (my neighborin this compound), of rescuing anold iguana of about four feet longwhom we affectionately called"Pepe" from the intent Tashigardogs and the heart-breaking storyofPepe's cries - so human sounding-as the dogs were tormenting him.After tellingmethatiguana feed onfallen fruit attwilight,I waited andwatched but never got a glimpse ofold "Pepe" at dusk among the fruitorchard or any other iguana.After a dream on the night beforemy departure for Tashigar, I wasnot surprised when my trip beganwitha series of major mishaps andminor annoyances - lost luggagefor fivedays, a fluwith adeliriumlasting three days, endless boughtand borrowed flashlightswhichdidnot work long enough down thelong treacherous dirt path to "my "house - no matter how manybatteriesI fed it, a canceled departure flight and a missed flight

    between Cordoba and BuenosAires when cab driver got lost inCordoba,an airport robbery initiatedby a moment's lapse in myattentionand, last but not least - infectedspider bites whose scabs I couldonlyweeks later remove. And yet,my "enforced vacation" as Fabiocalled it, resulted in a rich experience of inner connections, meaningful insights and perhaps someripening of karma. It was also awake up experience to meetRinpoche one day in the lowerorchard near the vegetable gardenofTashigar,walkingalone from thedance mandala to the Gonpa, as Iwalked up the path unaware of his

    continuedfrompagei

    presence - myminddistracted in ajunky ard of petty resentments justat that moment - an al l toodepressing recognition that aftertwenty years of following theteachings this is what it comes downto - meetingone'steacherwhilein ahighlydistractedstate.For fivedays, Rinpochetaughton aterma received from his master,Changchub Dorje, in a dream

    called "Opening the Gate of At iYoga." As always his teachingproved to be clear, essential andpowerful. We also did collectivepractice of the Purification of SixLokas during the retreat whichRinpoche gave an extended commentary on. Aswith everyretreat,there were many opportunities tolearn and refresh the differentcollectedpractices, theVajraDanceand Yantra Yoga. As everyonealready knows, one can not hearenough of Rinpoche teaching overand over again these essentialteachings on the meaning of GuruYoga.Hearingwith newearsand afresh mind, one can only try andkeep alive the heightened retreat

    experience upon returning toone'severydaypatternsand hectic schedule. Meetingone's teacher again isalways likedrawing from thedeepwell of refreshment. A s they say,with agreatmaster, the well neverruns dry andal lmay take what theyneed. So it is, with our dearRinpoche,who continuously givesover and over to us whether he isfeeling wellor not.One of the highlights associatedwith this retreat was the first everlive Internet audio broadcast byRinpoche. Because this live audiobroadcast was conducted via telephone, some people thought it wasanother teleconference such as theone last year from Namgyalgar,unaware that it was broadcasted

    around the world on the Internet.Behind the scenes for severalmonths, a number of peoplelabored to coordinate this effortinternationallyLoekJehee,FabioAndrico,EdGoldberg,DianeSiev-ers, SergioOlivia,and myself.Andeverything went smoothly! Initially, it seemed Rinpoche was goingto give a public talk but then helaunched energetically into theteachings on thethree statementsofGarab Dorje with the pointing outtransmission. He seemed so veryhappy to give this teaching - thefirst ever cyberspace transmission.At the conclusion,asRickymovedto disconnect the phone, Rinpochebrushed him aside to continuewith

    a few words ofwellwishes for allof us around theworld in the NewYear.Thus bringing us back to thecybercast itself and the amazingopportunity to connect altogetherin the moment.

    Severaldays later, after theInternetbroadcast and during my threedaydelirium withgrippe, I tried to practice continuous presence withO MA H H U M using this opportunityfor purificationpractice.Beingableto recognize just how difficult it isto maintain one's presence in themidst of sickness was extremelyvaluable. And it was VERYdifficult. As a dress rehearsal forperhaps more serious situations,this inspired to me to make somelong awaited changes in my dailypriorities because, for the moment,I failed miserably and insteadfound myself locked in the sameweirdnightmare over and over, inan airless room keeping everythingclosed from the intrusion ofimagined snakes and bats. I wasespeciallythankful for the kindnessof my neighbor and old friend.Glen Eddy,who checked up on meduring this time and kept me supplied with drinkingwater and othernecessities for the few days I wassick.

    A truefocus or distraction (dependingon your view) for many peopleduringthe retreatwas Tashi Bar. It

    continuedonpage6

    According to the Santi Maha

    Sangha Base examination,

    for people who are

    interested and participate in Santi

    MahaSangha, first ofal l they must

    be interestedi nthe DzogchenCom

    munity.The training of Santi Maha

    Sangha is not only something

    learned in an intellectual way, but

    this knowledge should be totallyintegrated into one's condition. If

    someone is not interested in the

    Dzogchen Community,there is no

    way they can be totally integrated.

    TheDzogchen Community islikea

    boat; we are traveling by boat in

    order to arrive beyond a very big

    river anduntilwe arrive beyond the

    very big river we should be

    interested in that boat. Therefore,

    we can understand how important

    the Dzogchen Community is for the

    trainee.

    If people are interested in anykind

    of Karma Yoga activity related to

    the Dzogchen Community itmeans

    those people are interested in the

    Dzogchen Co mmunity. For

    example, ifsomeone is a member of

    a family then that person is

    interested in everything related to

    thatfamily.In thesameway,ifthere

    issomething to do for the Dzogchen

    Community, one who is interested

    in the Dzogchen Community is

    alwaysready to participate.

    The main subject of the examina

    tionfor the SantiMahaSangha Base

    is not only the ten questions; they

    are only one of the ThreeMainSub

    jects. As we know very well, we

    have Three Gates and these Gates

    are body, voice and mind; so we

    also have Three Main Subjects of

    the examination related with theseThree Gates.

    Relativeto the body, we should con

    tribute physically to any kind of

    Karma Yoga activities for the

    Dzogchen Community. One who

    participates inKarma Yoga for the

    DzogchenCommunity indicates or

    shows clearly one's interest in the

    Dzogchen Communityin a concrete

    way. According to the voice, one

    shouldlearn the book ofSantiMaha

    Sangha Base, and during the

    examination one should reply cor

    rectly to the ten questions.

    According to the mind, one should

    apply all practices which are

    indicatedin the book of SantiMaha

    Sangha Base.

    Regardingthe firstMain Subject of

    Santi Maha Sangha Base training,

    since the beginning ofMerigar we

    started developing Karma Yoga

    there.Merigaris the number one or

    primordial Gar of the Dzogchen

    Community, and recently we also

    started to register the names of

    people, how they contribute Karma

    Yoga activities in the Dzogchen

    Community, how many hours they

    have contributed, and so on.

    Many people ask me how many

    hours ofKarma Yoga they should

    contribute for the Santi Maha

    Sangha Base examination and for

    the second level and so on.

    Registeringhow many hours people

    dedicate for Karma Yoga is not to

    realizelimitedhours in order to take

    the examination of Santi Maha

    Sangha Base; the registr-ation of

    how many times and how many

    hours someone dedicated to Karma

    Yoga is relative, it is not the mainpoint. The registration of the

    number of hours dedicated to

    KarmaYogais in order to know who

    and how they have dedicatedKarma

    Yoga to the Dzogchen Community

    and if we didn't register the Karma

    Yoga we couldn't know that. The

    registration of Karma Yoga is very

    useful in general for the Dzogchen

    Community to know who is

    seriouslyinvolved,andparticularlyit

    isvery important to know how it is

    related to thosepeople who partici

    pateinthe SantiMahaSanghaExam

    inations.

    Some people feel that it is enough

    thatwe ask people to do theirbest

    fordedicatingKarmaYoga,thatit is

    not necessary to do a registration of

    it.I think it is only enough for a few

    honest people, but not for most

    people. Ifyouask people during the

    examinationno one will say, "I am

    not interested in the Dzogchen

    Community" or "I didn't dedicate

    Karma Yoga". They will say,

    "I am interested in the Dzogchen

    Community",and "I did mybestfor

    dedicatingKarmaYoga".These are

    the common replies we could

    receive. In general, these words

    become a kind of ritual thing, not

    something serious. We don't really

    need any ritualized words; we need

    something concrete. Therefore weneed a registration book of Karma

    Yoga in order to see who has

    seriouslydedicated toKarmaYoga.

    Of course, the intention is not that

    Karma Yoga is only work like

    cleaning the bush, etc. There are

    many forms of Karma Yoga. For

    example, whenguestsofDzogchen

    Community arrive and someone

    voluntarilygoesto takethese guests

    and accompany them when and

    where it is necessary at the request

    of Dzogchen Community

    responsibles, that is collaboration

    withthe Dzogchen Community and

    isvalidKarmaYoga.

    I am using the example of the first

    Gar of Dzogchen Community[Merigar ], but we know very well

    that the situation of the Gars is not

    thesame- we can findmany differ

    ent situations in the Gars and

    Gakyils of different countries - but

    even though, in any part of the

    world, if someone contributes

    voluntarily some good and useful

    things for the DzogchenCommuni

    ty,the Gakyilofthatplace shouldn't

    view that participation with

    indifference. The Gakyil should

    register all the good things con

    tributed by that person and when

    they go to do the examination of

    Santi Maha Sangha the Gakyil can

    presenthis or her situation of con

    duct with the list of all the good

    things they have contributed to the

    Dzogchen Community. When we

    have thiskind of presentation from

    the local Gakyils, we can finally

    understand how the conduct ofthat

    person is, and his or her first of the

    Three Main Subjects for theexamination can be seriously

    applied.

    We also know there are many

    people living in isolated places and

    in those places there is no Gakyil.

    For whoever has this kind of

    situation, if they have some

    possibility, they should try to con

    nect to a Gakyil which is close to

    their place. Otherwise, they try to

    make contact witha Gar to receive

    more information about the Santi

    MahaSangha examination, training

    and so on. For people who are in this

    kindofsituation,wewilltry to help

    somehow and directly check their

    possibilities.

    Pleasedo notcometo theexamina

    tionofSantiMahaSanghawithout

    having thepreparations of Three

    MainSubjectsfor theSanti Malia

    Sangliaexaminations. Santi Maha

    Sangha training is a very important

    thing in our Dzogchen Community

    and therefore it is very important

    that we participate seriously, not

    only running to get to the higher

    levels. If you don't participate

    seriously, even if you arrive at a

    higher level you won't have any

    benefit. If you are going calmly

    ahead and seriously, even if you

    arrive at the first level, you can

    really get great benefit and at the

    sametime you are getting qualifiedto be a Dzogchenpa.

    With many greetings to all our

    Dzogchenpractitioners,

    ChgyalNamkhaiNorbu

    SantiMahaSangha Supervisors

    AdrianoClemente

    [email protected]

    Jim Valby

    [email protected]

    SantiMahaSangha CoordinatorsMerigar:IgorLegati

    [email protected]

    Tsegyalgar: Jim Valby

    [email protected]

    Tashigar.RicardoSued

    [email protected]

    Namgyalgar:Elisabeth Stutchbury

    [email protected]

    Kunsangar:GrishaMokhin

    [email protected]

    THE MIRROR MARCH 200 1 ATRIL 2 001

    M E E T I N G T H E ELEMENTS

    3

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  • 5/20/2018 mirror 56

    4/19

    Rome,November 21,2000

    CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

    RESPECTING OTHERS

    Knowing how to respect the

    value and character of each

    thing is part of our aware

    ness. First of all, a practitioner

    should know how to respect the

    individual and, above all, other

    practitioners, because each

    individualhas his or her dimension.

    We have a great many problems

    withthis. We are constantly forget

    ting to respect the dimension of

    others, particularly people who are

    couples.

    Whenboth people in the couple are

    young and lovely then everything

    goes wonderfully. They are blinded

    by their passion and think they are

    like one individual and see all

    aspectsof things in thesameway. A

    year later it's a little less like that,

    and after a few more years they area little disillusioned and discover

    that they don't exactly see eye to

    eye. At the beginning [of their

    relationship] they want to be seated

    on the same chair when they are

    eating even if they break the chair!

    After two or three years they

    definitelywant two different chairs,

    and after a few more years they

    want two different beds. After a

    while one house isn't big enough

    and they want two.

    After all this time, all they have

    really discovered is that they are

    two individuals, each with their

    own dimension. If, from the begin

    ning, they had acknowledged that

    they were twoindividuals withtheir

    own dimensions, their own ways of

    seeing and being but wanted to

    collaborate and be together, then

    they would have respected each

    other - especially if they are people

    who are following a spiritual path

    and have some sense of these

    values.In this way if they livelong

    enough to become old people, then

    they will be two old people who

    will be sweet to each other and

    respect each other. But today that's

    veryhard to do.

    Evenif it's not inthatway, it's very

    important that we understand that

    each person is anindividual withhis

    or her own dimension and way ofseeing and being.

    INDIVIDUALEVOLUTION

    Today when people want to show

    themselves to be a bit spiritual they

    talk about peace; peace in the

    world. Butpeacedoes not come if

    there is no evolution of the

    individual. Evolution of the

    individual means understanding

    that other people have their

    dimensions andneedsjust likeI do.

    As the Buddha said, "Take your

    own example and don'tcreateprob

    lems for other people." Certainly if

    one works radically in this way

    then, yes, peace can come about.

    Every day you see appeals for

    peace; a General or President

    invitesanother President in order to

    try to make contact. But peace

    doesn't come about from these

    meetings. If we really want and

    need peace, we need to work indi

    vidual by individual. One may

    think, "Well, how isthatpossible?

    When will we ever have peace?"

    But welivein time.Eveni f welive

    a longtime, a hundred years, we are

    goingto die. But our whole genera

    tion willnot die together. There are

    younger people,thereare children,

    thereare people who, in the future,

    Firstof all,

    a practitionershouldknow

    how torespect

    the individual

    and,aboveall,

    other practi

    tioners,

    because each

    individual has

    his orher

    dimension.

    will continue this civilization. If I

    have an evolution, a development,

    and I have understood something, I

    can helpothers who come after to

    understand. Thus, even if it doesn't

    multiply instantly, after centuries a

    real development can come about.

    So evolutionis truly possible.

    SOCIETY

    When I arrived in Italy for the first

    time I had alittlesuitcase. I had no

    notion of teaching Dzogchenhere

    or anything of the kind. But after

    wards, having contact with people,talking to them, communicating

    with them, gradually something

    developed and grew.

    Today we have something called

    the Dzogchen Community in all

    parts of the world and great num

    bers of people who have actually

    understood something. Moreover, I

    am one part, one person in society.

    I'm not something special. A l l

    people are the same in this regard.

    So if each of us understands,

    develops, has an evolution, then

    thathas an impact and we can grad

    ually have an effect on society in

    general.This is part of our aware

    ness.

    This is important because each

    individualcounts, it'slikea number.

    Whenwe say society it'slikesaying

    numbers and numbers can be

    infinite. But if you go to the con

    crete level, numbers must always

    start with number one. If number

    one doesn't exist then there's no

    hundred, there's no thousand,

    there'snothing.

    For me the first number in society is

    me.Every individualis number one

    for society so if we want to do

    something significant and real, we

    have to start with ourselves. If we

    have difficulty in observing our

    selves then we have to resolvethat

    difficulty. But our habitual systemis not that, it's just the opposite.

    When some problem arises we

    alwayssay, "Who'sguilty?Who did

    it?". In some sense we're always

    part of the problem, we're always

    guilty but instead we are always

    lookingfor someone else who is the

    guiltyone.An d this is how tensions

    develop and problems arise. So we

    have to observe ourselves, we have

    to try to understand and become

    aware of ourselves and what we do.

    MASTEROFONESELF

    So the Dzogchen teaching has to be

    more or less learnedlikethis. I have

    talked and alsogivena transmission

    today to connect us with the prac

    tice of Dzogchen. Those who have

    received this transmission and areinterested in the Dzogchen teaching

    should read something and get

    some notions about how to practice

    it,how to apply it. Butthosepeople

    who are interested can't just think

    that they alway have to have a

    master beside them. They have to

    become their own teachers, their

    own masters. So you read a few

    books, you begin to understand

    something about how this is

    applied, and if you don't under

    stand, yes, there are other

    practitioners, you can collaborate

    withthem.

    COMPLETELY FREE

    You can participate in thecollective

    practices with other practitioners.

    Many people have a limitation

    thinkingthatif they go and practice

    witha group, people willjudge how

    spiritualthey are. In modem society

    you may not want to be identified as

    somebody who follows religion or

    isinvolved witha spiritualteaching.

    Thismeans that in practice you are

    limiting yourself. Why should we

    limit ourselves? Better we should

    always be completely free. If we

    want to practice with a group of

    people, if we want to follow

    religion,why not? Why should we

    be slaves of the ideology of modemsociety? But if you likeit, you can

    apply the whole modem outlook.

    WORKINGWITHCIRCUMSTANCES

    I'm not a person who was bom in

    this modem society. When I was

    bom in my country, there was no

    suchthing as an automobile. When

    I studied at college when I was

    young, we didn't even have a

    match! So I am, so to speak, like a

    primitive. But it's not true. I like a

    lot ofmodem things, aboveal lcom

    puters. For example, computers

    have only been around for a little

    while- 1remember verywellwhenthey started. What emerges incircumstances must be accepted

    and made use of without limits.

    When one becomes the slave of

    limitations then whatever limits is

    negative. But neither do you

    struggle against and fightwiththese

    limits.You are free to choose what

    you likeandyou enjoy it.

    ENJOYYOURSELF

    One ofmy teachings is, 'enjoy your

    self. We knowthat samsara is full

    of suffering,thatis itsnatureand we

    are immersed in it, but at the same

    timethereare many things to enjoy

    and we should enjoy them. We have

    no idea how many more years we

    will live. For these years that we

    will livewhy not do ourbestenjoy

    ing ourselves, not only suffering.

    This is how you live and integrate

    yourselfinto society. Andthatway

    you have fewer problems.

    My hope isthatyouwill all try to do

    abit likethis.

    Immediately spokentranslationbyBarrieSimmons

    TranscriptionbyLi zGranger

    2 0 0 1 W E S T C O A S T R E T R E A T S

    May 2-6,2001

    DZOGCHEN COMMUNITYIN NORTH AMERICA

    2001 CALIFORNIARETREAT

    WITHCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBUMAY 2-6,2001

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    TRANSMISSIONFORVARIOUSPRACTICES.THEREWILLALSOBEINSTRUCTIONFORTHEPRACTICEOFYANTRAYOGABYFABIOANDRICOANDTHE

    VAJRA DANCEWITHANASTASIAMCGHEE.THEREWILLBEPRACTICESES-SIONSLEDBYOLDERSTUDENTSDURINGTHERETREAT.THESCOTTISH RITE

    TEMPLEISCENTRALLYLOCATEDBYLAKEMERRITT NEARDOWNTOWN

    OAKLAND.IT ISWITHINWALKING DISTANCEFROMTHE LAKEMERRITTBARTSTATION(BAY AREARAPIDTRANSIT).THEREARESEVERALPARKING

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    CONTACTFOR RETREAT& PUBLICTALKEmail:[email protected]

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    REGISTRATION FEES FOR CALI FORNI A RETREAT:

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    T H E C R Y S T A L A N D

    T H E W A Y O F L I Q H T

    S u t r a , T a n t r a a n d D z o g c h e n

    byChogyal Namkhai Norbu,compiledand ed. byJohnShane

    176 pp., 23linedrawings , 30 b& w photos, #CRWALI$16.95

    ChogyalNamkhaiNorbuexam

    ines the spiritual path from the

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  • 5/20/2018 mirror 56

    5/19

    MlLAREPA

    T h e G r e a t M a g i c i a n

    by JuliaLawlessand JudyAllen

    Icome from the village of Tsa in

    southern Tibet. My father was a

    great landowner from a rich and

    noble family.As an only son, I was

    spoiledand my early childhood was

    happy and carefree. Sadly though,

    whenI was only seven years old, my

    fatherdied.

    From that point on, everything

    changed. In his will, my father had

    entrusted the care of hisestateto myuncle andauntuntilI reached the age

    offifteen.Yet in spite ofhisbestinten

    tions,my relations seized our property

    for themselves. While they enjoyed a

    life of luxury,we were forced to live

    likeservantsinourown home!

    WhenI reached the age of fifteen, my

    mother reminded my uncle andauntof

    her late husband's will.But over the

    years they had become accustomed to

    their position of power and my

    mother's pleas were hopeless. The

    villagers felt sorry for us but were

    afraid to help.And we, of course, had

    nomeansto challenge our relat ives.

    When my mother realized that her

    familywas now destitute, she waspoisonedwithbitterness. "Now our only

    hope of avenging our enemies" she

    wailed,"is through magic. I want you,

    my beloved son, to learn the art of sor

    cery.Apprentice yourself to the magi

    cianYungton.If you are not successful,

    I willkillmyself."

    Itherefore had no choice but to leave

    our village and study magic with

    Yungton of Ngak, the 'Great and

    Terrifying Magician of Evil Spells'.

    Unfortunately althoughIspentawhole

    yearwithhim, I learntnothing. Know

    ing I couldnot return home without

    having mastered the art of black

    magic,indesperation I sought the help

    of another sorcerer. This time, as an

    apprentice toKhulungpa,the'Oceanof

    Virtue', my perseverance was

    rewarded and I made rapid progress in

    mastery over thespellofdeath.

    Once I was truly confident of my

    capacity,I set out to avengemy family.

    Mymagic was indeedpowerful!After

    only fourteen days of practice, my

    teacher toldmethatIwouldsee signs

    ofsuccess. Sure enough,thatnight the

    guardian spirits that I had invoked,

    appeared before me, bringing with

    them the bleedingheadsandheartsof

    thirty five corpses which they piled

    upon my altar.

    Ilater found outthatmy magicalritual

    had coincidedwiththe death of thirty

    five guests at my cousin's wedding

    feast.Duringthe meal,strangethings

    had happened. The courtyard of our

    house was filledwitha writhingmass

    of snakes, lizards, spiders and frogs.

    The horses tethered in the stables went

    wild with panic. Rearing up they

    kickeddown the stablewalls,causing

    the wholebuildingto collapse.A llthe

    guestsinside were killed... but unfor

    tunately myunclcandauntescaped.My mother was overjoyed when she

    heard of the disaster.Tyinga rag to the

    end of a long stick, she paraded it

    through the village shouting, "How

    happy I am to see this day! Through

    my son's power we have at last taken

    our revenge." The villagers were

    furiousat her display ofheartlessness

    and plotted to murder our whole

    family. Knowing this, my mother

    craftily sent me a message with a

    pilgrim, warning me of the danger.

    Evendeath threatshad not restrained

    my mother's wishfor revenge for in

    her letter she now asked me to destroy

    the entirevillage!

    Once again, I had no choice but toreturn to my previousteacher,Yungton

    ofNgak.Ibeggedhim to teach me how

    to gain power over hailstorms for in

    this way I could ruin the villagers'

    crops. When the harvest was almost

    ripe Isetoff for my village.Onceinthe

    hillsabove thevalley,I began to per

    formthe magical rite. A t first acloud

    no bigger than a sparrow drifted by.

    Nothing seemed to beworking.Sud

    denly a huge, menacing blackcloud

    began to overshadow thevalley.Giant

    hailstones smothered the housesand

    completely destroyed the crops, the

    verylivelihoodofthevillage.

    On my return to Nyak, my teacher

    Yungton congratulated me on my

    success, but I feltno joy. Instead I wasfilled with a deep senseof remorse.

    Mymindwas tormentedwithguiltand

    Ilongedfora way inwhichIcouldfind

    relief from my suffering. Seeing my

    distress, Yungton also feltdeep regret

    for his lifeo f black magic. As I was

    stillyoung,he offered to help meinmy

    search for redemption.

    He sent me to a famous Dzogchen

    master, whose teachings could give

    instant liberation. But I was too

    arrogant and lazy to realize what a

    valuable opportunity this was and

    spentmost of my time sleeping! In a

    matter of days, the Dzogchen master

    was fed upwithme, "I seethat thereis

    nothingI can do to helpyou," he said.

    "You should go to the great master

    Marpa, withwhom you have a natural

    connectionthroughpastlives."As soon as I heard the name "Marpa",

    a shiver went through my spine and

    my hair stood on end. I was filledwith

    asudden longing tomeethim face-to-

    face.Unableto thinkofanythingelse,I

    immediately set off for the southern

    Wheat Valley where he lived,taking

    onlya few provisions and my book of

    spells.

    As I entered thevalley,I asked every

    one I passed whether they knew where

    I could find Marpa the translator.

    Nobodyseemed to have heard of him

    untilImet an attractive young boy who

    said, "You must mean my father.

    Usually he doesn't work on the farm

    but today heisoutplowingthefieldby

    the roadside."

    Thisstruck me as strangefor Icould

    not believe that such a renowned

    master wouldneed to be out plowing

    his fields.Just then I caught sight of a

    tall, well-builtman in a nearby field.

    As I approached, Icould see thathe

    had penetrating eyes and a fearsome

    expression. Hesitantly I asked him

    whereMarpalived.

    For what seemed likea long time he

    just glared at me. Then he asked, "And

    who areyou?"Ireplied,"I amadeeply

    troubled man who has come to beg

    Marpafor help.""Very well",he said,

    "I will arrangean introduction. In the

    meantime,plowthisfield."

    Aftera while the young boy whom Ihad met on the road, came to show me

    the way to Mama's home. I had not yet

    finished plowing, however, and

    resolved to complete my work before I

    wentwith him.

    Whenwefinallyreached themaster's

    house, I was shocked to see the same

    man I had met earlier in the fields.

    Althoughhe wasseatedhigh on apile

    of cushionslikeateacher,hestillhad

    tracesofsoilin his hair and dustinhis

    beard. I quickly glanced around the

    roomto makesure therewas no other

    masterpresent. Then the man spoke,

    "Don't you recognize me? I am the

    translator Marpa. You may present

    yourself!"Ibowed down at once and,placinghis

    feet upon my headinrespect,Icried,"I

    offeryou mybody,speech andmindin

    exchange for food, clothing and

    instructions by which I can gain

    redemption for myevildeeds." "I can

    not offeryou both teachings andprovi

    sions"Marpareplied, "and I warn you

    that if you should choose the teach

    ings,your successwilldepend entirely

    onyourown effort."

    Having agreed tofindmy ownprovi

    sions, I was accepted into Marpa's

    household where I began sorting out

    my meager possessions. I was about to

    place my treasured book of magical

    spellsin his shrine room when hebel

    lowed at me, "Take your filthybookawayfrommysacredaltar.Idon't want

    it defiled with such rubbish!" I

    removeditat once and

    quietly withdrew to my own room.

    SinceI had undertaken to feed myself,

    I took to begging. In the course of a

    few days I hadcollectedenough to buy

    a large copper cooking pot with four

    handles, as well as beer, meat and

    barley to offer as gifts toMarpaI was

    soexhausted when IarrivedhomethatI

    droppedmyheavyloadonthe doorstep.

    Marpa was startled by the noise and

    shoutedangrily,"You'realready getting

    on my nerves! Get out!"With thathe

    strode overand shovedme outside.

    FEBRUARY9TH-11TH,2001

    THREEDAYSOF PEACE,MUSICANDLOVEWITH

    CHGYALNAMKHAINORBUINPERU

    byJuanBustamante

    Peace, for sure. Rinpoche is a good provider; of course you should take it

    with yourbare handsor an openheart.The music for ourearswas many

    people chanting the Song of theVajraand many for the first time.Lovewas

    an interactive flow,circulating freely.A l l this happened in "E l Remanso"

    (smooth water), west ofLima, Peru, from February 9th to the 11th, 2001,

    among mountains, in the middle of a beautiful park which was an ideal

    environment for retreat. Some one hundred sixty of us gathered with the

    ideaof learning how to integrate contemplation with daily life.Rinpoche

    gave us transmission and how to get the experience.After all, the way of

    knowingthetrue natureof the mirror is through its own reflections.

    I realized now my master was very

    short-tempered but I was not put off.

    Picking up the empty cooking pot, I

    offered it to him again. For a moment

    Marpa just looked at me, then tearswelledup in his eyes and he took the

    pot, saying,"Yourgift is auspicious. I

    inturn, offerittomy teacherNaropa."

    He lifted the pot above his head and

    shook it so that its handles rang out

    across the valley.Then he carried it

    intohis shrine room where he filledit

    with meltedbutterfrom the lamps. I

    was so overcomewith emotionthatI

    beggedhim togiveme teachings.

    "Passingon meditation instruction is

    veryslow work."Marpaexplained. "

    FirstI wantyou tobuildaroundtower

    on the eastern ridge of the nearby

    mountain. Once you've finished it,

    thenIUgiveyou teachings."

    Immediately,withraised spirits, I set

    about buildingthe round tower. When

    the structure was only half-complete

    Marpa suddenly changed his mind!

    "Holdon!" he said. "Since I instructed

    you to build this round tower, I have

    had second thoughts. Now I want you

    topull it down! Instead I would like

    you tobuilda tower shapedlikea cres

    cent moon on the mountain's western

    ridge."

    Onceagain, just before the work was

    completed, he came to see me. "I must

    have been completely drunk when I

    gave you the instructions forbuilding

    this tower!" he said. "Demolish it at

    once." Next he took me to the northern

    ridge of the mountain where he

    ordered me tobuilda triangular house.Thistime I asked him if he wassure

    that this was what he wanted. I was

    now utterly dejected and exhausted.

    When I had scarcely completed one

    thirdof thebuilding, Marpapaid me a

    visit. He shouted at me, "GreatMagi

    cian, who told you to build this

    house?" He alwayscalledme by this

    name to remind meof my terriblepast.

    Totally bewildered now, I replied,

    "You ordered it and swore that it

    wouldnot be torn down." "Are you

    challenging me?" Marpa growled.

    'Tear the walls down at once." I felt

    completely disheartened and had no

    choiceexcept todoashebid.

    Bynow I had developed runningsores

    onmy back. Persuaded by his compas

    sionatewifeDagmema who felt sorry

    for me, Marpa finally consented to

    giveme the most basic instructions. He

    then told me about his own ordealsunder his teacher Naropa and how, he

    too, had to show unceasing persever

    ance. As he spoke of his struggles, I

    inwardly vowed to do anything in

    order to understand the realnatureof

    existence.

    The next morning Marpa told me to

    start building a square tower. I was

    beyond knowing what to believe.

    Despite my resolution to endure any

    thing,I was close tosuicide.I was still

    workingon the tower when hesentfor

    me. "Do youhateme for refusing to

    teach you?" he asked. "No. I have

    complete faith in you," 1 replied. "I

    alone amresponsibleformymisery."

    Wavesofsadnesssuddenlywelledup

    insideme and I broke down intears.

    Mama's reaction was to rebuke me

    harshly yet again. Something inside

    me broke and Icouldnot take it any

    more.Withouttellinganyone, I left.

    WhenDagmemadiscoveredthatI was

    missing, she chastised Marpa, "The

    GreatMagicianhas gone.Now are you

    satisfied? " Atthis news, Marpa's eyes

    filled withtears."Oh please bring me

    back my destined spiritual son," he

    prayed.

    I,meanwhile,hadrealizedthatIhad no

    optionbut to return toMarpa.When I

    arrivedhome, he was furiouswithme

    for havingleft "If you are so impatient

    for the truth," he admonished" then

    you must be ready to give your very

    lifeforit." Iwasintotal despair.

    Just as I had given upallhope,Marpa

    summoned me to be theprincipalguest

    ataceremony.Fearfully,Itookmyseat

    among the otherdisciples. "AlthoughI

    may have appeared unreasonable,"

    Marpabegan, "I am not to blame for

    the GreatMagician'ssuffering. I actu

    allyused myrageas askillfultool to

    testhim thoroughly and purify him of

    hispastill-deeds."

    Turningto me he continued, "Now I

    will give you the essential teachings

    thatare as dear to me as my own heart.

    I willalsoprovideyou witheverything

    thatyou need. Let us be happy!" Ashe

    spoke, I couldn't helpwondering, "Amcontinuedonpage6

    THE MIRROR MARCH 2001 /APRIL 2001

    E

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    S U M M E R AT M E R I G A R

    2 0 0 1RETREATSWITHCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

    JULY 6-10

    S H O R T D Z O C C H E N T E A C H I N C R E T RE A T

    WITH CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

    The retreat startsonJuly6at4 pm.

    The costoftheretreatwillbeLit.400.000 withdiscounts for paid-up members.Payment can be made by installments (see below).

    It is advisable to book early since many people are expected.

    AUCUSTIO-19

    L O N G D Z O G C H E N T E A C H I N G R E T RE A T

    WITH CHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

    The retreat startson August10at 4 pm.

    The cost of theretreatwillbeLit.900.000withdiscounts for paid-up members.

    Payment can be made by installments (see below).

    It is advisable to book early since many people are expected.

    SANTI M A H A S A N G H A

    AUGUST 21-23

    BASE EXAM

    BookingrequiredatMerigar

    AUGUST 2 4 - 2 8

    FIRSTLEVELTRAINING

    with ChgyalNamkhaiNorbu

    startsAugust 24 at 4 pm.

    CostLit.400.000without discounts

    SEPTEMBER 23 -25

    SECOND LEVEL EXAM

    Booking requiredatMerigar

    SEPTEMBER 2 6 - 3 0

    THIRDLEVELTRAINING

    with Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

    startsSeptember 26 at 4 pm.

    CostLit.400.000without discounts

    Milarepa

    continued frompages

    Iawake or am I dreaming? Ifit'sjust a

    dream,IhopeIneverwakeup."

    That very eveningMarnacut offalock

    of my hairas asignofmy commit

    ment. He offered me acupofconse

    crated wine,which Idrained in one

    draught. Finally,dressing me in robes,

    he gave me my new name "Milarepa"

    meaning the Cotton-CladOne. The

    next day,Marna explainedthetheory

    and practiceofmeditation. Placinghis

    hand on my head, hesaid,"Myspiritu

    alson,Iknew from the very beginning

    that youwould be a most worthy

    disciple. Both Dagmema and I had

    prophetic dreams the night before your

    arrival.""I dreamt that my teacher Naropa

    gave meafive-prongedVajraof lapis

    lazuli, symbolizing diamond-like

    indestructibility. He told me to

    cleanse itwith nectar froma golden

    vase and mount it on top of a

    magnificent Banner ofVictory.Its radi

    ance blazed forth and lit upthewhole

    universe, subduingallnegative forces."

    "Dagmema also had an auspicious

    dream, inwhichtwo beautiful women

    appeared before herholdingacrystal

    container,whichI cleansedwithnectar

    before placing it onamountain top.It

    shonewitha brilliantlight, more daz

    zlingthan the sun and moon."

    "Thiswas whyI set out tomeetyou

    disguisedasafarm laborer. When youdrankallthe beerIoffered and finished

    plowing the field,I knewforcertain

    thatyouwouldbeabletotake in and

    understand the full meaning of the

    teaching and transmission."Hecontin

    ued, "The copper potwithits four han

    dleswhichyou offered me foretold the

    comingofmy fourgreatestdisciples.

    Its smooth surface meant that your

    mindwillbecome completely pure but

    its emptinesssignifiedthatyouwillbe

    close to starvation whileyou are in

    retreatFor this reasonI filleditwith

    meltedbutterto provide foryou inlater

    years and made its handlesringoutto

    announce your future acclaim.I put

    you through a series of grueling

    ordeals yet you never lost faith or had

    illthoughts about me. Thismeans that

    your owndisciples will be able to

    endure terrible hardships. Through

    you, theprecious teachings willgrow

    andflourishlikethewaxingmoon. Let

    usall rejoice!"

    This was the beginning of my

    happiness. Now that I had been

    accepted byMarpa,hewas verykind

    and provided mewith everything I

    needed. He askedme toremainnear

    him andsentme to practice meditation

    inan isolated cave, known as theTiger

    Cave. Later that year Mama'sson,

    Dharma Dhoday, unexpectedly died.Marpa wasdevastated. Looking for

    signs to indicate the future of his

    lineage,heinstructed his followersto

    watch their dreamsclosely.That night

    allMarpa's foremostdiscipleshad out

    standing dreams but none of them

    related to the lineage. I, however, had a

    dream of a huge mountainlikeMount

    Meni.Itwasatthe center of theworld

    and was encircled by four great

    pillars...."Upon the Eastern pillar

    crouched a great snow lion with a

    flowing maneofturquoise; Fromthe

    southern pillaratigress roared spread

    ing her claws through the dense

    forests; Above the western pillar a

    giant eagle soared gazing upward

    toward heaven;While in thenorthavulture spread itswings abovea nest

    and fledgling, whilethe skybecame

    fulloflittlebirds."WhenIhad finished

    relating the dream infull, Marpawas

    overjoyed. He sang a song which

    interpreted my dream andrevealedthe

    futureofthe lineage.

    "Mila islike thevulture whose out

    spread wingssignifyhis realization of

    thesecretinstruction.

    Itseyrieinthesteepcliffmeans'thathis

    life will be as hard as a rock.The

    vulture's fledgling shows thathewill

    havea peerless spiritual son,and the

    smallbirds scattered inspacerepresent

    his many disciplesand thespreadof

    histeachings far andwide.

    His gaze andflight towards heaven

    showshewill leave theworldofbirth

    and death andarrive in therealm of

    perfect freedom. If thewordso fthis

    old man areprophetic it is a most

    favorable dream forus all."It wasallas

    my dream hadpredicted. Meditating

    on thefireof'Inner Heat' in solitary

    places became my main practice,the

    one best suitedto mynature. Marpa

    also conferred on me the hat of

    Maitripaandthe garmentsofNaropa.

    My lifeas ayogiwas very tough and

    mypath not without obstacles forIwas

    challenged both by non-human and

    human adversaries. Through mymaster'sblessings, however,Ieventu

    allygainedfullrealization. Later I had

    manydisciples.Myfirst, the wayward

    Rechungpa always remained closeto

    my heart,whilemyfemale disciple,

    the beautiful young girl Paldarbom,

    embodied allthequalitiesof aliving

    Dakiniand became enlightened.

    Towards the end of my life, I had

    another dream aboutthefuture of the

    lineage:Idreamtthatan eagle flewto

    CentralTibet landing uponaprecious

    jewel. Manygeeseflockedaroundit.

    After awhile they dispersed and then

    returned, each bringing five hundred

    more companions. Soona ll the sur

    roundingplainsandvalleyswere filled

    withgeese.This dream indicatedthatalthough I wasalayyogi,many of my

    followerswouldbecomemonks.Fore

    most amongstthesewouldbemy spiri

    tual successor, the physician-monk

    Gampopa.

    Iwas happy beyond words for thecon

    tinuation of the tradition was now

    ensured. Myown servicetothe Dhar

    mawas completed.

    M E E T I N G T H EELE MENTS

    continuedfrompages

    is hardto imagine sucha placeat,say Tsegyalgar, or any ordinaryBuddhist retreat, but inTashigarwhere dinner was routinely servedas late as 10:30PM , TashiBarappeared so perfectly natural whereitoffered an earlier hour servingthetraditional Argentine sandwich. Imyselfwas partial toavodka tonic,

    a raretreatIindulgei nduringthesummer, buttherewas also wine,beer,and soda and cafe co n leche.For usclandestine smokers, it wasalsoaplace to relax somewhat guiltfree withour addiction.Young andnot so young danced away. Andnaturally our ownMichael Katzunabashedly sangh isrepertoireoffolk and popular tunes whileotherspresented their own culturaltalents. M eeting many people fromaround the world is really avery

    special part of attending retreatsand Tashi Bar washost to manystimulating conversations. I can'tsay much about the New Year's fes

    tivities except thatthedinner musthave been wonderful,butby 11:00P M,I foundmyselffallingasleep atthe table soIreturned home l eavingthe festivities to theyoungerandmore awake to ring in the NewYear.

    During thecourse of mystay atTashigar,Iwas very happyatlasttovisittheremaining lots of TashigarMandala, including theNe w Yorklotpurchased acouple of yearsagowhich Iparticipa ted in . One afternoon, Kathy O'Connor, Adolphofrom Cordoba,Glen, Michael Katzand I set out for atourof thelandand tovisitGlen's house.Itseemedto me after we have worked outtheroughly designated boundariesofthe NewYork landthatthis pieceisindeed quite beautiful withspectacular viewsto theNorthandWest.At the highest point nearamakeshift sputa ofpiled rocks,itseemed to be aplace which might

    be nice to have a practice retreatcabin rather than a large house -something which can be usedbypractitioners, although there isalready a portionof the landsetasidefo rretreatcabinso n theEastslopeo fTashigar's land. A t Glen'sbehest, I spent a couple of dayssketching out different

    possibilities.Althoughthe TashigarMandala seemsa bitdisorganizedwithout any over al l plans,fundamentally the idea tomake acommunityofinternational practitioners hasgreatappeal.Itwas also

    apleasure to see Naomi's house riselike Georgia O'Keefe's loomingchurchinTaos, hugging the land,asit were, and also Anne Dankoffslittle cottage down below nestledamongalush meadowatthe river'sedge. Glen gave us awalking tour

    of his house, brick walls now raisedwhich hedesigned and built himself. A s usually the case inCommunity projects, itsjump infeet first with out much forethought. Buttheresult of seeingsomany houses and their distinctcharacter was delightful.Eachonereflecting something ofthe energy

    of its inhabitant. Now, it seemsthings aredeveloping further in amore organized fashion as TashigarMandala begins to implementissues aroundelectricity,water, androads.

    In the Principlesof theDzogchenCommunity, Rinpoche writes aboutagricultural cooperatives. Thisplace, Tashigar, is so rich andabundant - anislandofsanityandprotection for allbeings to enjoy

    for many generations. I sincerelywishall ourVajra brothers and sisters can visit and restore theirenergy while they relax in this

    lovely paradise

    and, if even

    temporarily, liveoff the fruits of the

    landwhich fallupon one withsuchbounty.

    CHGYALNAMKHAINORBUSCHEDULE continuedfrompagei

    V EN EZU ELA , M A RG A RITA

    ISLAND

    December 26th-January1st

    Margarita Island Retreat

    2002Feb.l5th-24th

    MARGARITA ISLAND

    Teacher'sTraining

    March 30th-April3rd

    MargaritaIsland Easter Retreat

    April 9th-23rd

    Margarita IslandLongselTeaching

    USAJSEGYALGAR

    May 3rd-7th

    DzogchenRetreat

    SantiMalia Sangha

    May 10th-14th

    SMS BaseLevelExam

    May 15th-19th

    SM S ILevelTraining

    May21st-23rd

    SM S ILevelExam

    May24th-28th

    SM S IILevelTraining

    May30th-31st

    SM SnLevelExamJune lst-5th

    SMS IIILevelTrainingJune 14th-28th

    Personal Retreat of

    ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

    July5th-14th

    Dzogchen Retreat

    ITALY,MERIGAR

    July18th

    LeaveforMerigar

    SantiManaSangha

    July23rd-25th

    SM S BaseLevelExam

    July26th-3oth

    SM S ILevelTraining

    August 10th-18th

    DzogchenRetreat

    SEE CONTACTS IN COMMUNITY NEWS page I3

    6

    August22nd-23rd

    SMS fflLevelExam

    August24th-28th

    SMS IVLevelTraining

    August 30th-31st

    SMS IVLevelExam

    September lst-5th

    SMS VLevelTraining

    September 8th-22nd

    Vacationin Sardegna

    AUSTRIA, KALACHAKRA

    October 10thLeavefor Austria

    October 11th

    H.H.theDalaiLamaarrives

    October 23rd

    H.H.theDalaiLamadeparts

    ITALY.MERIGAR

    October 28th

    ReturntoMerigar

    THAILAND

    November 4th

    Leavefor Thailand

    November 15th-17th

    ThailandDzogchen Retreat

    SINGAPORE

    November22nd-24thSingapore Retreat

    AUSTRALIA,

    NAMGYALGAR

    November 25th

    Leave for Brisbane

    December 26th-January1st

    Namgyalgar Retreat

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    BOOK REVIEWSCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBURINPOCHE

    INPORTLAND,OREGON,USA

    PUBLIC Lecture

    ChgyalNamkhaiNorbuwilllectureon:"What is SpiritualityintheTibetan

    GreatPerfection"

    Tradition"

    Wednesday, Mayi6th,2001

    THE DALAILAMA'S SECRET

    TEMPLE:

    Tantric WallPaintingsfrom Tibet,

    BYIANBAKER&THOMASLAIRD,THAMES&HUDSON,LONDON2000.

    The Lukhangis a three-storied

    temple or on a romantic island in

    the lake behind the Potala; this is

    indicated by its longer name

    Dzong Gyab Lukhang (rDzong

    rgyab klukhang) literally the

    "Water-SpiritHouseBehindThe

    Fortress". Following thecon

    struction of the Potala in the sec

    ond halfofthe 17th century,a

    lake was left behinddue to the

    extraction ofbuilding material.

    For pacifyingthe disturbednagas

    theFifthDalaiLamapromised to

    satisfy them bybuildinga temple

    asaplaceforregularpujas.It is

    saidthatthesmallartificialisland

    in thelake was frequented as a

    retreatby theGreat Fifth Dalai

    Lama.Latera temple dedicated

    to thenagaswasbuilt onthis

    island.The Lukhang wasaper

    sonalretreatplace of the various

    DalaiLamas.

    Not manyofthe murals ofthe

    ground floor arepreserved. The

    first floorcontains beautiful narrative paintings,mainlyofthelife

    of thebodhisattva Pema bar

    andofthe Indian KingGyalpo

    Legkye.In the topfloorone finds

    in a small room ofsix by six

    meters extraordinary muralsof

    Tantric and Dzogchen related

    topics. The Eastern wall shows

    forty-two Mahasiddha and

    Padmasambhava and his twenty-

    fiveclosestudents.The Western

    wallis decorated withDzogchen

    practices and thenorthern wall

    shows various Tantric and

    Dzogchen themes:thecontents

    of Dzogchen tantras, thecom

    plete one hundred Shitro deities,

    Yantra yoga andTsalung prac

    tices, and scenes of Gum

    Rinpoche subduing hostile

    forces. Besides these three big

    wall paintings inthecomers we

    canfindbiographical episodes of

    masters (SE), protective deities

    (NE)andscenesshowingvarious

    waysofintroducingthe student

    to the naturalstate(NW).

    Unfortunately, not allthemurals

    are in such a good shapeas

    appearinthe book,mainlydue to

    continual leaking water through

    the roof sincethemid eighties,

    caused by "renovation". This

    ongoing damage threatens this

    unique artistic and spiritual

    heritage.

    Since I saw the magnificent

    murals of theLukhangin The

    CrystalAnd The Way OfLight

    (plate 12- 17 and 27)in1986,

    the wish to see them inrealhaunted me. Tenyears later I

    made it to Lhasa andwhile

    initiatingan ad hocroof repair

    job of the Lukhang with an

    active NGO under consultation

    ofanASIAarchitect, we had the

    chanceoftakingsome pictures as

    a by-product. This was thestart

    ingpoint for my research onthe

    Lukhangand itsDzogchenpaint

    ings.A year laterIreturned, this

    timeIwasnoteven allowed to

    write down the words of the

    inscriptions,not tomentionthe

    makingofphotos. So Ispelled

    the captions into my walkman

    recorder and wrote them down at

    night in the hotel. The next dayIcompared mynotes with the

    wordson thewall. Since I am

    workingonthesemurals myself,

    I might be more critical than

    many other readers about this

    beautiful book.

    ChgyalNamkhai Norbuwas the

    first to publish pictures of the

    murals in 1986.Nowacopiously

    illustratedbook ispublished.The

    work gave birth to a bookof

    inspirationand beautyratherthan

    ofacademic research. The won

    derful pictures were takenby

    Thomas Laird andthetextwas

    written by IanBaker.The quality

    ofthe pictures are incredible andof outstanding quality, whoever

    tried to take pictures in the

    Lukhangknows how difficultit

    is.The book contains 136 color

    images inlarge format and 80

    pagesoftext and beautiful draw

    ings. Itstartswithan introduction

    by theDalai Lama. IanBaker

    presents the history of the

    Lukhang,the connection of itto

    the Dalai Lamas and the

    interesting sectionon therela

    tionship of theDalaiLamas and

    the Dzogchen teachings. Ian

    madeuse of his good fortuneto

    be abletoconsult His Holiness

    the Dalai Lama about these

    topics. In connection with the

    depictions, background

    information to thepaintingsare

    presented - for example the

    Buddhistvisionofart, the path of

    Tantra, the world of the

    Mahasiddhas andtheDzogchen

    teachings. In the introduction the

    author investigates the history of

    thebuildingand it's context,but

    without getting real historical

    evidence on theoriginationofthe

    Lukhangan its murals (a difficult

    research topic not solvedyet

    whichI am actuallyworkingon).

    The authorfollowed inpreparing

    the book the advice of the Dalai

    Lama.The murals disclose very

    openlytheinnermost Dzogchen

    instructions by illustrating all the

    practices like Rushen,Tregchd

    andThgal.Baker's commentary

    describe the principles of the

    illustrated practices without

    giving practical instruction in away that an "uninitiated"

    practitionercoulduseit as"how

    todo it book". Forsomebody

    familiar with these teachings

    thereisalot to discover between

    the lines andespecially in the

    pictures. WhenIaskedNamkhai

    Norbu Rinpocheforadvicefor

    my plans on carrying out an

    academic study and/orwritinga

    book about the Dzogchen paint

    ings of the Lukhang he said,"It

    wouldbeO.K.tomakeacoffee

    table book with more general

    explanations. Even atranslation

    of the inscription would be

    acceptable, but a precise

    explanationofthecontentsofthe

    pictures relating theDzogchen

    practice should notbeundertak

    en." This Rinpoche stressed

    especially because theWestern

    wall shows the complete

    Dzogchen path with itsThgal

    practices and the resulting

    visions.

    Iwould liketo seeabook show

    ing pictures of the complete

    paintings, even if itwouldbe in

    small scale only. Probablythe

    authors decided toreproduce

    onlypicturesofexcellent quality.

    continuedon page8

    ChgyalNamkhai Norbu

    PUBLICLECTURE

    7-9 pm- MARYLHURST UNIVERSITY,

    St. Anne'sChapelPortland, Oregon

    Pre-registration:$10

    OnsiteRegistration:$15

    Please send and make checks payable to:

    MarylhurstUniversity

    ReligiousStudies andPhilosophy

    Department

    P.O. Box261Marylhurst,

    OR97036-0261

    DZOCCHENTEACHINGS

    WITHCHGYALNAMKHAI NORBU

    May18th, 19th&20th-Portland, Oregon

    WORLD FORESTRYCENTER.MILLERHALI

    4033SWCanyonRoad-Portland,Ore

    gonThis beautifulfacilityisnear downtown, onaMAXlight

    railstop,andthereisplentyofeasyparking.

    Registration fees:

    $148 byMarch15th

    $165byApril15th

    $180afterApril15th

    DZOCCHENTEACHINGS

    FridayMay18th, 7:00-9:00pm,

    Saturday May 19th,

    8:30-10:00amYantraYoga

    10:30-12:30amDzogchenTeachings

    2:00- 3:30pmYantraYoga

    4:00- 6:00pm

    DZOGCHEN TEACHINGS

    Sunday-May20th,

    8:30 -10:00 amYantraYoga

    10:30-1:00pm

    DzogchenTeachings and Ganapuja

    Retreat phone number: 503-240-8707

    Email:[email protected]

    R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M

    Name(s):...

    Street Address:

    City:. State:.

    Z ip : .

    Haveyou everattendedateaching by Rinpoche? Yes No_

    .childreno f the followingChi ld care is request ed for_

    ages:

    Makecheck payable to: "NamkhaiNorbu Portland Retreat"

    M ai lwithcopyof registration to:

    DIANEHYDE,2725 NE17TH.97212

    PORTLAND,O R. 97212, USA

    Please use thislinkto printamap to theWorld Forestry Center:

    http://maps.yahc-o.com/py/maps.py?BFCat^

    33+SW+Canyon+Road&city=Portland&state--OR&slt--45.510400

    &sln=l22.717800&zip=972212760&country=us&mag=9&cs=9&

    BFClient=&poi=&poititle=&map.x=46&map.y=6

    Accommodation List:

    LodgingneartheWorldForestry Center

    MALLORYHOTEL729SW15thAve.,Portland,OR97205

    Tel:(503)223-6311 or (800) 228-8657Large,traditional downtownhotelwith

    lightrailpassinginfront,about3stops

    fromtheWashingtonParkForestry Cen-

    ter.

    Restaurantonpremises

    Rates: $85 -$140.

    THEMARKSPENCERHOTEL409SW11thAve.,Portland,

    OR97205-2633

    Tel:(503) 224-3293or(800)548-3934.

    Complementary breakfast.

    Rates $89-$109 .

    THEIMPERIALHOTEL400SWBroadway,Portland,

    OR97205-3579

    Tel:(503)228-7221 or (800)452-2323.

    Restaurantonpremises, close tolightrail.

    Rates $75-$90.

    AMERICANHOSPITALITYINNS2221SWSixthAve.,Portland,OR97201

    Tel:(503)226-2979.

    Rates $50-$70.

    CARAVANMOTORHOTEL2401SW4thAve.,Portland,OR97201

    Tel:(503)226-1121 or (800)992-2401.

    Restaurant, airport shuttle,pool.

    Rates $60-$70.

    DaysInnCityCenter

    1414 SW 6thAve.,Portland, OR 97201-

    3497

    Tel:(503)221-1611or (800)899-0248.Restaurantonpremises.

    Rates $99-$125.

    NWPORTLANDINTERNATIONALHOSTEL

    1818NWGlisan

    Tel:(503)241-2783.

    Rates:$20-$48/ membervs.non-member

    AY HHostelingInternational/Portland

    INTERNATIONALHOSTEL3031SEHawthorneBlvd.,Portland,ORTel:(505)236-3380.

    Located onPortland's East side.

    Rates $20-$46/membervs.non-member

    Thereisarestaurantattheentryplaza for

    theOregon Zoo,which liesacrossthepark

    ing lotfromtheWorldForestryCenter.

    Thereisnozooentrycostsfortherestau-

    rant.Menupricesarereasonable.Cafeteria

    style,children'smenu,appetizers,andbev

    erages. Itistheonlyeatingestablishment

    withinwalkingdistance.

    Directionsto thezoo:

    FromWashington: Take 1-5 south to 1-405

    south. Take 1-405 southtoHwy 26 west.

    TakeHwy26west to thezoo exit#72.

    Fromthe South (Salem. Eugene,Corval-

    lis):Take 1-5 north to 1-405 north. Take I-

    405 north toHwy26 west. Take Hwy 26

    westtothezoo exit#72.

    FromtheEast (TheDalles, Hood River,

    Pendelton): Take 1-84 westto 1-5south.

    Take 1-5 south to 1-405 north. Take 1-405

    north toHwy26 west. TakeHwy26 west

    tothe zoo exit #72.

    FromtheSouthcoast:TakeHwy101north

    toHwy6east.TakeHwy6easttoHwy26

    east.TakeHwy26easttothezoo exit#72.

    From the North coast: Take Hwy101

    south toHwy26east.TakeHwy26eastto

    the zoo exit #72.

    THE MIRROR MARCH 2001 /APRIL 2001 7

    BOOKREVIEWBYJAKOBWINKLER

    mailto:[email protected]://maps.yahc-o.com/py/maps.py?BFCat%5ehttp://maps.yahc-o.com/py/maps.py?BFCat%5emailto:[email protected]
  • 5/20/2018 mirror 56

    8/19

    BOOK REVIEWS Th e D a la i Lama' s Secret Tem ple continuedfrompage7

    CAVEINTHE SNOWBLOOMSBURY PRESS, 1998

    by Vkki Mackenzie

    Ifirst metTenzinPalmoin 1980 on a dusty roadside atTashi

    Jong, India where shemadeadeepimpression on me. She

    was already a legend in the Himalayas and acknowledged

    as a woman who had gone more deeply into her spiritualprac

    tice than any other Westerner. It was notuntil 1989, however,thatIwas able to spend manylongand memorable hourswith

    her when she stayedwithme as myguestinLondon.

    Anoutstanding Englishwoman in the tradition of hardy and

    intrepid early explorers, shehad lived inretreat for over

    twelve years