Tantra and Dzogchen with their themes of transformation and being exactly we as are can sometimes seem contradictory. Yet they represent two profound paths to contemplative realization that have always been practiced together in some form. And both represent crucial aspects of the path.
This retreat focuses on a rare early Dzogchen text called the Black Wrathful Dakini’s Secret Tantra. In striking contemplative poetry, it unites the themes of Tantra and Dzogchen through contemplations of fierce compassion and primordial knowing. This is an essential text to study for those who follow Chod, the esoteric Tibetan meditations for cutting through fear. It explains and presents the meaning of the Black Wrathful Dakini and explains all aspects of ultimate reality from a non-dual perspective. This important scripture is part of the collection of the seventeen tantras, the early Dzogchen texts that were the major source of the Dzogchen Nyingthig tradition.
This sacred text unites Tantra and Dzogchen in a single stream of contemplative vision of ultimate reality as understood through the Dakini principle.
This three-day retreat focuses on the study of excerpts from the scripture, the practice of the Troma Nagmo cycle from the Rinchen Trengwa three Dakini Chod, meditation, and dharma conversation. This is part one in a series that will explore this profound scripture with Pema Khandro, whose scholarly research focuses on early Dzogchen.
5pm – 7pm San Francisco PDT 8pm – 10pm New York EDT 11am – 1pm Sydney AEDT
Bardo refers to the experience of rupture- of endings and uncertainty – that leaves us suspended in the liminal spaces between what was and what will be. Bardo also refers to dying and post-death periods as well as to states of radical transformation in life. Join Dr. Pema Khandro, scholar and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism and Lama Lhanang Rinpoche for an intensive course focused on the profound wisdom and skillful means presented by the Buddhist philosophy of death, bardo, and rebirth.
“One of the key themes of Buddhist life stories is that our experiences are not only made up of circumstances, but also of our reaction to those circumstances. Whatever happens externally may not be in our control, but we have a choice about the meanings we take from them and where we go from here. This is a Buddhist viewpoint made apparent by the radical story of Gelongma Palmo, who faced extreme hardship, yet is subsequently transformed and liberated through the experience.” ~ Pema Khandro
