Dear friends and fellow
students.
This past year has been
unfolding a tremendous richness of teachings by our dear Rinpoches. At Rangjung
Yeshe Gomde in Denmark we have been blessed with five remarkable masters who came
and shared from their treasury of wisdom.
In spring in April came Jetsün
Khandro Rinpoche of Mindrolling and gave peerless advice on “The Awakened
Heart”. She taught on our innate qualities of kindness and wisdom. Earlier she sent
these lines, “We all want to be happy and to avoid suffering, but we do not
seem to know how to obtain this. Maybe because we do not know, who we really
are? Why are we not just kind, compassionate and wise all the time?” For two
days Khandro Rinpoche gave instructions in her flawless English to many new and
old students.
Then came our yearly
Cloudless Summercamp, a tradition which began in 1994 when our precious teacher
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, founder of Gomde, came to Denmark to help us establish
the Buddha’s teachings on enlightenment and compassion in our hearts.
This year Rinpoche gave
wonderful instructions in two segments, the last of which was a unique guidance
manual in the nature of mind according to Shakya Shri, a recent Dzogchen and
Mahamudra master who is renowned as Lord of Siddhas. In addition he gave
empowerment and reading transmission for Arya Tara and presided over the yearly
Ocean of Amrita ceremony. During this time Rinpoche again gave the pointing-out
instruction to the nature of mind, as well as refuge ceremony for new Buddhists.
A month later our dear
master Chokling Rinpoche of Tsikey arrived to bestow the Vajrasattva
empowerment and give detailed instructions for four days. At the end he gave a
short teaching on how to approach seeing the nature of mind, and the need to go
through ngondro and yidam practice. Many people mentioned that they felt his
special blessings and that their hearts opened up in a way they had never felt
before.
In September we had the
fortune to receive Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, one of the foremost experts on
Vajrayana, especially Mahayoga Tantra. He performed the tantric ritual for transforming
our land to Sacred World, the nature of hindrances and how to overcome them, as
well as how to recognize true signs of progress on the path.
Finally after two years,
we saw the return of Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche who held a week-long meditation
retreat, Open Mind Open Heart. During this time he outlined a path which ties therapy,
inner yoga, and Dzogchen together in a seamless fashion – with profound humor
and insight. Everyone received the the pointing-out instruction, at least one
hundred times.
Phakchok Rinpoche
visited Copenhagen and Århus and gave talk on A Key to a Meaningful Life, the Sutra on the Wisdom of Passing, and on Phowa.
Gomde also held a Tara
retreat on The Triple Excellence by
Lama Tenzin Sangpo. This is part of an extensive program on the Path to realize
Arya Tara, which is backed up by online teaching and practice at www.dharmasun.org.
From our own ranks
Antonia Sumbundu held retreats at both upper and lower Gomde on Mindfulness-Based
Cognitive Therapy.
As Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
has asked me, I shared some insights from my teachers, especially Tulku Urgyen
Rinpoche. During three Padmasambhava Retreats I began to share the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, as well as a
retreat on learning to die peacefully. During the summer seminars I gave
evening talks, blending stories of past masters with their teachings.
All these retreats and
teachings at Gomde unfolded through a combination of our gurus’ kindness and
the volunteers who arranged for them. I therefore thank all of you who helped
during 2012 from the bottom of my heart. I pray that we will have a fortune
equal to this in the coming years.
Remember why we came to
these teachings. Please don’t let the Buddha’s wisdom be just technical theories
for an insider-group, but share your heart connection to kindness and insight with
the other people you care for so that they too may feel inspired to be kind and
to enjoy the journey to enlightenment.
Warm wishes and happy New
Year,
Erik Pema Kunsang
