Shine and Lhagthong Retreat with Sasha Pubants - Johnnie Walker

Last month I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic weekend workshop by Sasha Pubants.  

The last time I saw Sasha I was roughly a year ago, sitting opposite him in Base Santi Maha Sangha exam. 

While that was a actually a lot of fun, it was nice this time to be able concentrate purely on trying to absorb as much as possible of what he was saying!

The topic this time was "Shine and Lhagthong with Emphasis on practices in the context of Semdzins of Santi Maha Sangha".

Sasha clearly has a huge wealth of knowledge and he didn't seem to be holding anything back.  The Friday evening set the scene and started big, covering a lot about how Dzogchen is structured.  He particularly noted how lucky we are the perspective that Rinpoche presents Dzogchen to us is not at all common, and how unique and valuable it is.

The Saturday started by delving into Shine and Lhagthong.  I particularly remember Sasha recounting a memory of when he was swimming with Rinpoche and how the movement of the water gave him a profound insight as to how the two principles relate to each other.  He put a lot of importance on to using terminology precisely to avoid confusion.

After that we moved on the various Semdzin practices.  Sasha would explain the basic principles, he would (patiently!) answer our questions, we would practice.

It really helped to make a lot things I had been a little fuzzy about come in to focus.

All the way through the weekend, a clear sense of the passion he feels about Dzogchen came across in every word. I left felt re-enthused about the practice and full of practice advise about how to proceed.

 

I look forward to having him back in the UK in the hopefully not too distant future!

Vajra Dance retreat and looking forward into 2015

The now traditional annual week long Vajra Dance retreat was held in Kunselling from the 9-16 August. The weather changed with the remnants of a hurricane moving over Britain so this year we danced the full retreat inside our trusty Dome. I say trusty because it has now been over 10 years since we acquired the Dome, and it is perhaps time to replace it.

The retreat was very well attended with around 21-23 people attending plus 3 very well behaved children who managed to amuse themselves (and us) admirably.

The programme was quite intense, starting with early morning Yantra and following on with 2  Dance tuns in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. The full moon Ganapuja on the first Sunday saw a packed Gonpa and a full rainbow appeared over the top of the Dome at the end. (see picture).

We were all very glad to have this opportunity to deepen our practice away from the usual distractions of daily life, and also to provide and receive support from each other along the way.

Towards the end, we had an informal meeting around the fire discussing freely ideas how Vajra dance can develop next year in the UK.Here are some of those ideas which some of you might want to comment on or add to.

1. To have 2 Vajra dance practice retreats next year in Kunselling - a week long one and perhaps a long weekend.

2. To hold a deepening course of the Song of the Vajra, with a special request to have it in the school holidays.

3. Possibly also to have a course on pt 1 of the Song of the Vajra, but we need to assess interest for this to happen. Any of you out there interested to begin to learn the Dance of the Song of the Vajra?

4.To hold a group retreat combining Mandarava (or Gomadevi) practice with Vajra Dance.

5. Cindy to come down to the practice one afternoon at St Saviours to help with any queries etc.

People also expressed a wish to combine a Dance practice with the AGM, as we have done in the past.

6. An idea of having a Dance celebration - possibly in W.Wickham Village Hall where space is cheap and plentiful - devoting time to both Vajra Dance and Tibetan dancing.

7. To plan a further,separate 2 Vajra Dance days in the London Buddhist Arts centre.

8. An idea that was discussed in Tenerife among instructors and with Rinpoche was to make the possibility of individual,(or small group), Vajra Dance tutorials available by the hour, for people to work individually and specifically with an instructor, was also of interest to people. Two people actually had an individual 'tutorial' on the last day, and I think it was a positive experience.

The idea was put forward by Prima Mai to answer to the need of people who perhaps haven't got the time or find it too far travel to courses, or maybe the courses are not at the right time for them. Anyway, an idea to be developed.

There are now 2 Vajra Dance instructors in the UK! 

Algis, based in Cardiff, and myself, based in Cambridge.

We then moved on to practical considerations. We agreed to start researching and costing a new dome, maybe with the possibility of blowing warm air into it, so our Dancing season can be extended a little, and also be made more comfortable so that we don't receive an icy blast of air as we move around the mandala.

We also discussed making new Mandalas which Jane has already communicated to us.

Thanks really must go to Jane who organised this week so well.

With best wishes

Photos from Shitro Retreat by Raf Portas

Shitro retreat led by Jacob Winkler - by Amely Becker

Shitro retreat led by Jakob Winkler at Kunselling 23rd - 27th July

We had the best weather, sunshine every day; and eating all of our meals out on the terrace was a wonderful and welcome way to get to know each other and be together, whilst also tackling such a complex theme as the Shitro practice and Bardo explanations.

The new kitchen was such a delight to use and be busy in, the washing up was a nice activity whilst looking out onto the garden; and Red conjured up many wonderful meals for all of us to enjoy.

Jakob had a clear and humorous teaching style. He guided us through the Shitro practice stage by stage with rich and elaborate explanations. I liked his invitation for contributions from us and I was able to ask all my numerous questions on the process of the bardo stages. Jakob made plenty of space for discussions to develop so that we were sharing our understanding and it became a rich exchange. Jakob showed us some Thankas of the Shitro deities and described them in detail,

which was really helpful if one wants to tune into a more elaborate visualisation of those. We were practicing the Shitro daily and this was important for me as my mother had just recently passed away. I was moved to know that each participant was including her in their practice.

We practiced yantra Yoga and also a Tun of the Vajra Dance on the outdoor mandala without the dome, in glorious sunshine and the sheep were unperturbed.

The last evening we spent together in the living room with the fire burning bright, a glass of wine, and a lively discussion on many topics unfolded. The atmosphere throughout this retreat was light, joyful and dedicated to learning and practicing. A very good mix.

I am feeling confirmed in my understanding of the subject of the retreat and I also have taken away new learning and understanding from it.

Thank you everybody, I enjoyed our collaboration.

Amely

Igor Berkhin in London

18th September (Thursday-Friday) Venue:TBC
London: Dzogchen View and Meditation


25th September: Shang Shung UK lecture details here: http://www.shangshunguk.org/v1/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=134&Itemid=166&year=2014&month=09&day=25&title=soas-lecture-series-cognitive-aspects-of-buddhist-meditation-with-igor-berkhin&uid=9ebe577020983fcc4e250eb445ccd8cd

Yoga Pranayama from a constitutional and Medical Approach

Course with John Renshaw Kunselling May 24 -30 2014

The May bank holiday weekend with the torrential rain that invariably accompanies it, brought together an auspicious gathering of yogins to Kunselling The course was so over-subscribed that twice as many people had signed up as could be accommodated.

Yantra yoga is an ancient Tibetan system usually practised by advanced yogins in a lengthy closed retreat. It is a complete path in itself to open the chakras through a combination of movement, breathing and bhandas or locks, so that ultimately the prana enters the central channel. Only then can real meditation progress. Usually these esoteric yogic techniques are kept secret as they are related to the vajrayana path of transformation requiring a basis of practice and initiation, there are also dangers if it is practised without adequate training or supervision. However, in response to the need of lay practitioners, Choegyal Namkhai Norbu opened up the system in the seventies.

As all those attending the retreat had some experience of yantra yoga and John Renshaw is an exceptionally qualified teacher, the group experienced a high level of exhiliration and energy release. Each day there were 6 hours of yoga from different traditions and yantra yoga practise starting with lengthy warm-ups, stretching and twisting followed by the yantras which develop the holds, locks, breathing, and releasing in rhythmic movement, Towards the end of the retreat the emphasis was on longer sessions of pranayama,s  and rhythmic breathing. John repeatedly pointed to the Dzogchen view state of Guru yoga, contemplation or non-meditation as the final stage of the practise of yantra. And indeed there were times when the relaxed jaw and posture of the release was so comic we had to laugh spontaneously, and thus released even more.

John’s remarkable knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and oriental medicine was packed into an daily hour session  with photo projections of muscles ,nervous system, the brain, and the glands with reference to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and prana which govern and respond to  both life and practice.

The master chef Darius in the new kitchen extension prepared each meal with care and love, with the help of Mary Finnigan. The 5 children – all girls – staged two never before seen plays and gave away tickets marked £50. On the final evening after the gana puja, they played to a sold out audience at double the price.

The only thing that didn’t change was the weather. Except for one sunny patch, it rained every day, and not even our inner brightness could change it.

By Naomi Levine author of The Miraculous 16th Karmapa