17-19.02.17 Teachings on the ‚preliminary practices‘ (Ngöndro) Part 2: Vajrasattva
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Friday 17th February at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday 19th February after lunch
Course fee:
150 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
The second part of the preliminary practices is the Vajrasattva practice, in which we cleanse our inner obstacles, confusion, diseases, and our habitual tendency to harmful conduct and thereby cleanse the karma accumulated over many lifetimes. We hereby loosen our tendency to hold on to negative conditions and practices in order to provide greater clarity in our minds.
12-14.05.2017 Teachings on the ‚preliminary practices‘ (Ngöndro) Part 3: Mandala offering
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Friday 12th May at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday 14th May after lunch
Course fee:
150 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
The third of the Preliminary Practices is the Mandala Offering. This remarkably simple and effective practice, of continually and freely offering the most beautiful and splendid worlds one can imagine, provides the opportunity to become ever more generous, open and without possessiveness, while meanwhile gathering an enormous amount of merit and wisdom.
23-25.06.2017 Teachings on the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro), part 4: Guru Yoga
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Friday 23rd June at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday 25th June after lunch
Course fee:
150 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
The fourth and final of the Preliminary Practices is Guru Yoga. Here one evokes the blessing of the unbroken, authentic transmission lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism, an essential and vital aid in the further development of one’s practice. In fact throughout history countless teachers from all lineages have considered guru yoga to be the quintessential practice in realizing one’s own true nature. Real devotion to one’s teachers is the product of a sincere heartfelt appreciation of the practical value the teachings can have in one’s life. In this practice one literally merges one’s mind with the teacher’s mind, and thereby through sheer devotion uncovers and matures one’s innate qualities of self-liberation.
25-27.08.2017 Teachings on Milarepa Guru Yoga
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Friday 25th August at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday 27th August after lunch
Course fee:
150 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
Jetsun Milarepa had committed serious crimes in his youth and killed with black magic a large part of his family, and he was seized by a desperate remorse. He was looking for a teacher who could show him the way to get rid of the entanglement of the never-ending cycle of existence, and found him in his teacher Marpa.
Marpa treated Milarepa with unimaginable severity before giving Milarepa the meditation instructions he desired. By unwavering faith in his teacher and the great energy with which he gave himself in his practice, Milarepa succeeded in acquiring enlightenment in one lifetime. He is famous for his spontaneous poetic songs in which he gave expression to his profound teachings.
Prayer of serious commitment by Jetsun Milarepa
Son of the lineage of Lord Naropa’s path of liberation,
please bless this beggar that he stay in mountain retreats.
Do not be swayed by the demon of worldly distractions
but deepen meditative concentration.
Without getting caught in clinging to Shamatas pond
May the flower of Vipashyana blossom
Unaffected and untroubled by stress and tension,
Let the foliage of simplicity unfold.
Without the slightest discord in my Retreat
Let the fruit reach maturity – experience and realization.
With the demons family powerless to hinder it,
may I gain final certainty to understand my mind.
On the way of skillful means, unclouded by doubt
may the son find his way in the footsteps of his father.
Blessed and compassionate, essence of Akshobhya,
please bless this beggar to remain in mountain retreats.
15-18.09.17 Empowerments and Teachings with Tulku Damcho Rinpoche: Mahakala, Milarepa Guru Yoga, Vajrakilaya and Green Tara
EMPOWERMENTS AND TEACHINGS:
A SPECIAL WEEKEND WITH TULKU DAMCHO RINPOCHE
15-18 September 2017
Begins: Friday September 15 at 19.00
Ends: Monday September 18 after lunch
Course Fee: 300 euros (includes all Empowerments, all meals and accommodations)
Course Fee without meals and accomodation: 180 Euros
Attendence for Empowerments alone is possible:
Mahakala, Milarepa Guru Yoga, Vajrakilaya, Green Tara Empowerments: 40 Euros
Chöd Empowerment: 50 euros
As part of his annual European visit, we are once again happy to welcome Tulku Damcho Rinpoche to Halscheid, and share in his wisdom, kindness and special brand of humor!
Tulku Damcho trained at the monastery and shedra of one of the pre-eminent scholars and teachers in Vajrayana Buddhism: the Very Venerable Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, our spiritual guide here at Halscheid.
In support of the upcoming second phase of the Three Year Retreat program at Halscheid, Tulku Damcho will present a special weekend of teachings, reading transmissions, and empowerments for the Milarepa Guru Yoga, Mahakala, Vajrakilaya, Geen Tara and Chöd practices, all fundamental stages in the traditional Three Year Retreat.
The weekend, designed especially for the participants and interested parties who will participate in all or part of the Retreat, is also open to all who wish to obtain the special blessing which the empowerments confer on one’s meditation practice now and in the future.
Empowerment Schedule
Friday, 15.09.2017
16:30 Preparation of Mahakala Empowerment
20:00 Mahakala Empowerment
Saturday, 16.09.2017
10:00 Milarepa Guruyoga Empowerment
14:30 Vajrakilaya Empowerment
19:00 Chöd Teachings, White Feast
Sunday, 17.09.2017
10:00 Preparation of Chöd Empowerment
14:30 Chöd Empowerment
Monday, 18.09.2017
10:00 Green Tara Empowerment
22-24.09.2017 Teachings on Karma Pakshi Guruyoga
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Friday 22nd September at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday 24th September after lunch
Course fee:
150 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
20-22.10.17 Karma Pakshi Practice Weekend
Course leader: Evelin Dosedla and Gerlinde Lunz
Start: Friday, October 20, 7 PM
End: Sunday, October 22, after lunch
Cost: 130 Euro, including meals and lodging
On this weekend we will have our traditional Karma Pakshi Practice Weekend held by our former Three-Year-Retreants Evelin Dosedla and Gerlinde Lunz. Both of them have performed two Three-Year-Retreats in Halscheid from 2003 to 2010.
There are no special requirements for attaining the course, so newcomers are welcome, too, to our common practice. It is a good opportunity to become more familiar with the practice and clarify questions regarding this practice. The weekend will end with a Ganachakra feast offering on Sunday.
27-29.10.2017 Teachings on Shamata- (Shine), Lhagtong- and Mahamudra Meditation
Instructor: Lama Kunga
. Friday, 10/27, 19 am – Sunday, 10/29/2017, after lunch
Course fees:. 150 Euro, including lodging and food
On the way to discovering the true nature of our mind, „deep, peaceful and simple, clear and unformed“ (Buddha Shakyamuni), the meditation of Shamata is an indispensable method.
Our mind tends to leap from one thought to another, and we perceive it as a great challenge to keep our attention during meditation. A solid foundation of calm, concentrated abiding is enormously helpful and an essential aid to other meditation methods such as the visualization practice of generation stage and finally mastering the completion stage or Mahamudra.
Once we have we reached a stable foundation of calm, concentrated abiding, we are able to continue with the practice of Vipassana, or insight meditation, and through this practice observe our mind both at rest or moving. This allows us to be prepared to be able to finally master the completion stage or Mahamudra.
15-17.12.2017 Vajrayogini – Teachings on the Outer Practice
Instructor: Lama Kunga
Begin: Friday, December 15 at 7 PM
End: Sunday, February 17 after lunch
Course fee: 150 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
Vajrayogini is generally considered the central ‘yidam’ or meditational diety in the Kagyu lineage. She appears in the classic dancing pose of the wisdom dakini as the personification of emptiness, her semi-wrathful naked appearance representing the naked realisation of mind’s nature. Though her dancing posture seems playful, she represents a fearsome and passionate compassion that demands our utmost respect. The Vajrayogini practice requires extensive preparation and study.
The first part of the Vajrayogini practice, the „Outer Practice“, allows us to become familiar with the deeper meanings underlying her outer appearance and her environment.
For those who want to take part in the Vajrayogini practice phase of the Three-Year-Retreat, the practice will start on December 26, 2017 with the evening session and will continue on for one year with outer, inner and secret practice phases. The schedule for teachings on the inner and secret practice is not yet finished.
An interview with Lama Kunga is mandatory in order to join in this practice phase.
26.12.17-01.01.18 Amitabha Retreat
Amitabha Retreat – Sadhana Practice and Ganacakra
Course Instructor: Lama Kunga Dorje
Start: Tuesday, December 26, at 7 PM
End: Monday, January 1, after lunch
Fee: 240 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
To use the time of the changing of the year in a meaningful way for us as well as for others, we will meet again this holiday season for our annual Amitabha Retreat. This year the retreat has been extended an extra day.
Amitabha Buddha is the meditation deity associated with the divine realm of Sukhavati (tib: Dewachen). He is called “Buddha of Limitless Light”, because his activity permeates all clouded states of our being and clears away all suffering.
By doing Amithaba practice – reciting mantras, prayers and practising the sadhana – we can support those who have departed this life on their further path, clear away states of suffering in ourselves and others, and help to create an auspicious compassionate foundation for the coming year.
Those of us who have lost someone dear can dedicate the positive merit of the retreat to them, as well as to all other sentient beings. For those who have passed away in the course of the past year, there will be a special ‘bardo puja’ on the 31st of December.
On the morning of New Years Day we will celebrate the beginning of the year with an auspicious ‘Ribosang,’ a smoke offering ritual for happiness and world peace.