The teaching takes place July 3-6, 2023 in Shenten Dargye Ling. Online participation via zoom is possible.
Register on Shenten's website for on-site or online participation
This part of Lama Sangye Mönlam's comprehensive course of Ma Gyüd teachings covers the first section of Drol-Lam, the "way of liberation".
The "Drol" of "Drol-Lam" is a more forceful liberation than the "Thar" of "Tharlam", the subject of last year's teachings. One might say, if samsara is a jail, then "Thar" corresponds to a successful jail-break, while "Drol" corresponds to destroying the jail completely and permanently.
The chapter contains detailed instructions for visualization practices that resemble bizarre thought experiments. Their unsettling quality jolts the mind out of its usual rut, and, with luck, we land in a state quite unlike any other, of pure consciousness without any object, clear and empty, and, above all, perfect. This so called natural state is the base that Tantra and Dzogchen have in common, and the important purpose of the Drol-lam chapter is to give an introduction to this state.
As in previous years, Lama Sangye will go through the Ma Gyud text (from Guru Nöntse's terma "the Sun of Compassion") line by line, which is a precious opportunity to immerse oneself in this fascinating text. We are planning to prepare an English translation of the chapters of the Ma Gyüd text in the order that Lama Sangye teaches them. Lama Sangye teaches in Tibetan and will be interpreted into English. Translation into additional languages (French, Spanish, ...) will be available via Shenten's Zoom channel.
Also, we will perform the basic Ma Gyüd practice for integrating with the enlightened mind of Lama, Yidam and Khandro, that is reciting the "gong choe nam sum" with damaru and zhang and the apropriate mudras.
Prerequisites: Lama Sangye Mönlam's Ma Gyüd teachings are suitable for beginners and new students as well as for advanced practitioners, including those who have already received Ma Gyüd teachings. As most of us have experienced, with profound texts such as the Ma Gyüd, one understands the same teachings on a new level upon every encounter with them, and always learns something new. The teachings in 2023 continue a series of teachings, but new students are welcome to join.