Summer Ngöndro Retreat & 3-day Extension
Opening our Minds and Hearts through the Practice of the Four Immeasurables
Event onsite only
This year, the Summer Ngöndro Retreat will especially focus on the Practice of the Four Immeasurables which is the stepping stone for arousing bodhichitta, the heart of the enlightened mind. Practising immeasurable love, compassion, joy and equanimity will deepen our practice no matter where we are in our spiritual development.
Students have remarked again and again that practising together with peers in a supportive retreat environment allowed them to discover the true transformative power of these practices. Having studied and practised these instructions during the past months in The Way of the Great Perfection study programme would of course be a most conducive basis for entering into a retreat such as this.
During the retreat we will engage in these practices together. In addition, we will cover all the other aspects of ngöndro essentially, sharing the best teachings, instructions on how to practise them, and guidance on how to apply them in our daily lives.
These summer ngöndro retreats, led by Rigpa Teachers specialised on the topic of ngöndro, are a place where anybody interested in ngöndro can come together, learn about the ngöndro, deepen their understanding, and meet like-minded practitioners. This retreat is a celebration of the vajrayana preliminary practices, ngöndro, which have the power, when applied, to bring you from wherever you are now all the way to enlightenment in this very lifetime.
If you want to start practising the ngöndro but you don’t know how to start or lacked the courage so far; if you are already an established ngöndro practitioner; then this retreat is for you!
There will be time for you to progress in your personal accumulations in different shrine rooms of the Lerab Ling Temple. Also, participants will be offered individual guidance from teachers, and there will be opportunities to share their experience with fellow students.
HOW TO FOLLOW
• For this retreat, we can all say goodbye, if only temporarily, to Zoom and come together in the blessed, beautiful environment of Lerab Ling and enjoy the company of fellow practitioners in person. Hence, the retreat is open to all Rigpa students.
• Students also have the opportunity to continue the momentum of the main retreat with an extension of 3 days (20-22 July) to focus on their accumulations. During this period, students will practise on their own; optional guidance from one of the teachers or practice holders will also be available.
TEACHERS
Rigpa Teachers
Ruth and Javier have been teaching the topic of ngöndro for many years. Naomi and Miguel developed “The Way of the Great Perfection”, the recent iteration of “The All-Encompassing Path to Enlightenment”, Rigpa’s study programme for the entire sangha.
PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE
Session 1 (9:00-10:00) : Guided Ngöndro practice
Session 2 (10:30-12:00) : Teaching
Lunch break
Session 3 (15:00-16:00) : Guided practice, group discussion, time for personal interviews with a teacher, or for personal practice
Session 4 (16:30-18:00) : Guided contemplation
Dinner
Session 5 (19:00-20:00) : Time for personal practice
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
START Saturday 11 July at 10am
END Thursday 23 July at 1:30pm
CONTRIBUTION 513€
REGISTRATION AND BADGE/KEY COLLECTION
Friday 10 July: 2pm – 6pm
Saturday 11 July: 9am – 9:45am If arriving after 6pm on Friday, please notify registration@rigpa.org
LANGUAGES Teachings: French, translation; English, Spanish, German
TRANSPORT
Arrival on Friday 10 July – from Montpellier: departure from airport at 3:15pm
from Sud-de-France train station at 3:45pm
from Saint-Roch train station at 4:15pm