Sangha News

Dear Northwest Sangha,

Many of you have shared heartfelt words of appreciation since our time together at the retreat. Thank you and we send our gratitude and love right back at ya.
The presence and focus of each and every one of you contributed greatly to the transformative power of the practice. Revealing once again that the Northwest Sangha rocks and is a perfect home for the unbroken Bon-Buddhist lineage and wisdom teachings to grow and flourish.

During this time of challenge and transition it feels clear and necessary that we find, embrace and wholeheartedly engage in practices that directly connect us to ourselves, each other and the natural world.

We are fortunate in our neck of the woods, the Great Northwest, that nature is abundantly alive and still talking to us. Rinpoche felt all this and more. In fact during the retreat it became clear to him that the West coast needs a Center. How, when and where this will manifest is unknown, at least to us, but I have no doubt about his vision, power of manifestation or the generosity of others. So thank you again for the spirit you brought to this event.

More good news. Rinpoche will be back with us again on November 16-18, 2012 to teach the practice of Dream Yoga. Better set your clock and put it on your calendar, it would be a drag to sleep through this one, (sorry couldn’t resist.) We will send you more information about this teaching in the future. Meanwhile if you haven’t already read Rinpoche’s book on the subject we highly recommend it. I’ve read it twice and the last chapter five times now.

There’s more…., on Saturday August 6, two months from now, Marcy Vaughn, lineage bearer and one of Rinpoche’s senior most students will be here to teach the combination practice of the Six Lokas. This is an opportunity for those of us who attended the retreat with Rinpoche last year or anyone presently doing this practice to deepen in understanding and experience.

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of practicing with Marcy at Ligmincha Institute, this is a rare opportunity and an experience not to be missed. Marcy’s teaching style is powerful, clear and laced with fiery wisdom, compassion and humor. She is a seasoned practitioner with over thirty year’s experience. She serves as the Communications director at Ligmincha, chief editor on many of Rinpoche’s books and is currently teaching US students in the Three Doors Academy. Space may be limited so please take some for yourself.

Please let us know if you can attend just as soon as possible. The fee for the teaching will be $108.00. We are hoping to do a fire ceremony on the day before or after the teaching and will let you know as soon as it is confirmed. If you are planning to attend, call 360.709.0918 or contact us using this form:

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Last but not least….how about the CD from the Soul Retrieval retreat, what’s up with that, you guys?

The good news…, it worked and it’s downloaded. The bad (or patience-is-a-virtue) part of the news…., is that we are working on how to configure it on the website for retreatants only. This will hopefully be accomplished in less time than it takes to do 100,000 mantras.

More soon….,

In Bon with joy,
Lynn and Carel

Stories of Practice

Here you are invited to share your stories of practice. Post your questions, your insights, your experiences. Respond to one another’s posts to build a conversation. What was the Five Element Soul Retrieval teaching like for you? How is your life affected by your practice? How is your practice affected by your life? What are you struggling with? What realization are you celebrating?

Unification of the Three Spaces

In this recording of a January 2010 live Internet broadcast, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche guides a simple dzogchen meditation of the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition known as the Unification of the Three Spaces.

Monday Night Practice

Just as our Monday night practice group is open to anyone wishing to deepen their relationship to their practice, so is this forum for discussion of issues and ideas related to the practice. Your participation is welcome.

Feel free to comment directly to  posts, and in response to one another, as a way of deepening your practice. The first time you leave a comment, it will be approved by the site administrators before it appears, but after that, your comments will be unmoderated, with the expectation that this conversation will be respected as an extension of the joyful and supportive experience fostered during group practice.

If you feel unsure of how to begin. You might want to visit the “sample posts” for a little direction.

Prayer Wheel

In the left margin of this website, there is an image of a spinning prayer wheel “inscribed” with the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum.

Mantra in Tibetan script.

The effect of this spinning text is believed to invite the blessing of compassion.

If you would like to have your name or the name of someone else remembered in a daily prayer practice, please use the Comment box following this post. Be aware the name will be visible to site visitors.

For more information about prayer wheels, visit this Wikipedia page.

How Categories Work

When you click on a category in the left-hand column, it shows you all the posts within that category. Posts may appear in more than one category depending on their relevance. To read and respond to a post, click on its blue headline – in this case, “Sample Post.”

How to Use This Forum

Welcome to the Bon Pacific Northwest website. This site is specifically designed to invite and facilitate online conversations about our shared and individual meditation practice. There are Pages (links listed across the top of the page) with static information, and Posts (links listed along the left side by category) that are interactive discussions on specific topics. This is an example of a Post.

You can find posts by clicking on a “Recent Post” over in the left hand column, or by choosing a “Category” that interests you (Teachings, Events, etc.) and then clicking on the title of a specific post within that Category.

If you want to contribute an idea or ask a question related to a specific post, you type your thoughts into the “comment” box under the “Leave a Reply” heading at the bottom of the page. Your comment than appears below the original post as the sample replies do below. If you want to respond to a specific comment rather than to the original post, then you simply click “reply” under the comment you wish to address, then type into the “comment” box that opens there.

Note: The first time you make a comment, it will be reviewed by a moderator before appearing on the website. Thereafter, you will be welcome to contribute without moderation. The site’s authors maintain the right to moderate threaded discussions as warranted.