Friday
Precious Silence – The Gift of Retreat
A Message from the Director and Team at Gampo Abbey and the April 2024 Gampo Abbey Newsletter
As I write this we are in the final days of the Yarne retreat – a 45-day traditional monastic retreat that has been fulfilled since the time of the Buddha’s first sangha.
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, we were able to invite guests, both monastics and laypeople, to join our community for this retreat, which is an essential element of a monastic community.
Ani Pema has been here teaching Mind Training in Eight Verses by Langri Tangpa. It’s a pithy instruction on softening into the path of the Bodhisattva, training in recognizing life’s difficult moments as our best teachers, and cherishing the troublemakers in our lives.
The retreat started with high winds, very cold temperatures and lots of snow – but boy did it end with a thrilling experience. A full solar eclipse – how lucky can we get?
This year I was struck even more than usual by the power of silence in retreat. It’s an essential ingredient to be able to tune into one’s inner experience, a precious thing in our day-to-day lives. It’s something worth carving out even if just for a day. No talking, no listening to music, no entertainment online. I highly recommend it. In a group retreat like Yarne, we consider silence a gift that we offer each other.
-Trinkar Ötso, Director
Pema Chödrön: Live Q&A – April 14, 2024
Pema Chödrön has guided many in befriending their emotions and navigating difficult times with more ease. On Sunday, April 14th at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), she’s offering a unique opportunity to learn from her directly as she shares fresh insights and wisdom with our community in a live Q&A format.
According to Buddhist wisdom, there are five afflictive emotions at the root of our suffering: craving, aggression, ignorance, pride, and jealousy. In this call, Ani Pema will be speaking directly to the wisdom of these difficult emotions, sharing insights on how to work with them skillfully, and answering questions from community members on this universal topic.
Registration is open for a limited time to join this call. Click here to save your spot today!
An Auspicious and Unusual Ending for Yarne
Not only did we have an outstanding final day of the Yarne retreat with a traditional Tibetan Lhasang ritual and good smokey fire, but it auspiciously coincided with a full solar eclipse.
See some great photos and read more about the Lhasang ritual here.
See some great photos and read more about the Lhasang ritual here.
Ripening Karma in Group Retreat
If you’ve ever wondered about the value of group practice here is a glimpse of what a few of our Yarne participants have to say about how this 45-day retreat has impacted their outlook.
They have some interesting comments about what they are taking away from this experience into their lives beyond the Abbey.
***
To continue reading the full April 2024 Gampo Abbey Newsletter please click here.
Entries filed under Community Articles
Magic at the Court – HIGHLIGHT
By Jeff Grow I was invited to court for a small reception for the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo with the Ripa sangha in White Plains, New York. This was shortly after they had gotten married. I was a little nervous. While I had served at court ... continuePosted April 5, 2011 by
Shambhala Time Out – HIGHLIGHT
For the mischievous onset of April, the Shambhala Times once again takes *time out* of its regular reporting to cover more *sensational happenings* in our global mandala and the groundswell of Shambhala culture in the most offbeat places. Shambhala Households Take To The Streets In an effort ... continuePosted April 1, 2011 by
A Pinch of Rice – HIGHLIGHT
By S. Marie Vernon The lodge is cozy and comfortable with a huge fireplace that constantly invites us to “come sit by the fire.” It’s our Winter 2010-2011, Weekthun and Oryoki Retreat in North Alabama. Twenty three of us are here for the event with our teachers, Shastri ... continuePosted March 23, 2011 by SMarieVernon
Tibetan Children at Surmang Celebrate Losar – HIGHLIGHT
By Lyndon Comstock To conclude the old year, and prepare for the new one, children at the Surmang Dutsi Til shedra school in eastern Tibet recently took examinations in reading, writing, and arithmetic. A ceremony honoring those who did especially well was attended by hundreds of the ... continuePosted March 19, 2011 by
Boulder Welcomes the Sakyong out of Retreat – HIGHLIGHT
Boulder’s newly renovated shrine room glittered on Shambhala Day to welcome Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche out of his year-long retreat. Members of the Mukpo and Ripa families, the Kalapa Council, and Shambhalians from near and far were present to celebrate the new year together with the Sakyong ... continuePosted March 10, 2011 by
A New Kind of Governance
[caption id=”attachment_4404″ align=”alignright” width=”150″ >click here. By Shastri Rebecca Hazell In mid-February, one of several governance conferences around the world was held in San Francisco. Victoria Centre Director Layth Matthews, Practice and Education Director Mark Hazell, and Shastri Rebecca Hazell (me) attended this huge gathering. People came from ... continuePosted March 6, 2011 by James Northcote
TWENTY YEARS OF RULING AND TEACHING: Introduction – HIGHLIGHT
Shastri Benoît Côté marks the transition of the past year in the Sakyong’s reign by offering a history of twenty years of ruling and teaching. This is the first in a series of articles about this journey, based on available documents that mark the various ... continuePosted February 24, 2011 by BenoitCote
Including Children in Our Practice – HIGHLIGHT
Noel McLellan shares his family’s experience of bringing their children into practice and chanting sessions, and in the process offers ways we can welcome the vividness of our lives into practice. As practicing warriors, meditation is a regular part of our lives, and sharing it with ... continuePosted February 18, 2011 by
Doing Ngondro in Bodhgaya – HIGHLIGHT
Kurt Hofstetter, a member of the Shambhala Centre in Vienna, describes a recent group ngondro retreat in Bodhgaya and shares a gallery of vivid photographs from the experience. During Vajrayana Seminary in 2009, the Sakyong mentioned that doing prostrations in Bodhgaya would be very ... continuePosted February 16, 2011 by Kurt_Hofstetter
Training the Greatest Gift – HIGHLIGHT
Luc Jacobs describes his experience at the Mukpo Institute, engaging training, study, and meditation to discover that becoming who you already are is a gift to everyone. Mukpo Institute has been in existence for several years now, but somehow it has not attracted that many students, ... continuePosted February 11, 2011 by
Goodbye
A poem by Bob Huber Today i burned them. Piled dead rose branches Over charcoal. Softly tore up those farewells From Roland, Menty, Bobbi, Joan And a hundred others And placed them in the flames: The Job I loved The Work I did These people, In That Life Goodbye, i loved You On September 2, 2010, I said goodbye ... continuePosted February 7, 2011 by Bob
A Path of Unified Fundraising – HIGHLIGHT
Lodro Rinzler, development coordinator for Shambhala’s Office of Finance and Development, shares an overview of fundraising efforts in 2010 and requests the help of all Shambhala entities to establish and operate within a coordinated, unified fundraising calendar. Three and a half years have passed since the ... continuePosted February 7, 2011 by
NYC Children Send Gift Packages to Surmang – HIGHLIGHT
By Anne Kenan Last October President Reoch sent out an email to the Shambhala community sharing a photo and video taken on the first day of school at Surmang Shedra. The group photo showed one hundred some-odd children–from toddlers to teens–with arms raised in cheer and faces ... continuePosted February 3, 2011 by
30 Years Ago at Lake Louise – HIGHLIGHT
Photos from 1981 Vajradhatu Seminary By Tony Bouret This reminiscence from the 1981 Vajradhatu Seminary was broadcast by Tony Bouret on sangha_announce. With his permission, we have reproduced a selection of his photographs below. It’s been 30 years! The 1981 Vajradhatu Seminary was the last of three held ... continuePosted January 22, 2011 by
First Open Sky Weekend in Oz – HIGHLIGHT
This fall, 21 Aussies completed Level V and the Heart of Warriorship. This is the first time in Australia that a Shambhala Training Level V has been offered. Maria Losurdo shares her experience of traveling and training in the massive country of Oz. In November, a ... continuePosted January 18, 2011 by
RSS feed for the Community Articles category
View all posts from authors in Community Articles: Jillian_Johnson
