Ripa Ladrang Newsletter – November Special Announcements

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News of Special Events – Long Life Ceremonies for His Eminence

Dear Ripa Ladrang Community,

This is a reminder about the special Long Life Ceremonies that will be done in Nepal for our beloved Lama, His Eminence Terton Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche.

The following table indicates the glimpse of Day, Date and Puja performance of the practicing longevity (Tshe-Drub) for two days and the third day will be ‘Actual Long Life Ceremonial Puja’.

S/no	Day	Date	Performance
1	Tuesday	15th Nov. 2011	Longevity Ritual Practice (Tshe-Drub).
2	Wednesday	16th Nov. 2011	Longevity Ritual Practice (Tshe-Drub).
3	Thursday	17th Nov. 2011	Actual Long life Prayer (Ten-Shug-Ngoe)

 

As Nepal is about 11 hours ahead of the East Coast and 14 hours ahead of West Coast, we can conduct your celebrations in at whatever time is good for you.

We recommend you accumulate His Eminence Long Life prayer over those three days.
Also, if you wish to meet with your local sangha for Tsok, please contact your local Sangha Secretary.

A PDF file of His Eminence’s Extensive Longevity Prayer, as written by H. H. Dudom Rinpoche, is posted here to download on our website for your personal copy.

As our Lama is always in our hearts, in essence there is no distance that separates us at any point in time so send your clouds of offerings of prayers and wishes into the sky and we are all confident it will reach our Lama!!

Thank you to everyone who has already sent monetary donations towards the purchase of all the beautiful substances that are gathered for the event as well as gifts to presiding Lamas.

We encourage everyone to make a donation, no matter how small, towards this important event. Donations can be made at our donations page.

Here is a quotation offered by Khandro Tseyang, the Sakyong Wangmo (His Eminence’s Daughter) about the meaning of such a ceremony:

“Tenshuk means to secure the life of the master”. Traditionally, such ceremonies are organized by the students from time to time at special moments in the life of a precious guru. Usually, the ceremony is led by an eminent master who shares close samaya (spiritual bond) with the one who is to be offered the Tenshuk. A Long Life Abhisheka is conferred as part of the Tenshuk.

Students then make offerings of rupas and various objects securing the body speech mind quality and activity of the guru.

The offerings are also a symbolic way of showing one's gratitude towards the guru or master for his tireless and selfless dedication in bringing the light of dharma into our life.”

Offering prayers and wishes for a long and healthy life is a common aspiration of students at all stage of the path. The diamond path of the Vajrayana clearly emphasizes the importance of the role of the guru. In fact, the guru-student relationship is the life force of the path and the practice. Thus, love, trust, and devotion in the precious guru are essential. The guru is revered as the embodiment of living wisdom and compassion, the heart of the lineage, and the source of blessings and happiness.

It is up to the students to create the tendrel (auspicious circumstances) that enable the guru's life to be secured for the benefit of the world and sentient beings. Without the love, guidance, trust, and compassion of the guru, our life would never be the same. And without this patience and endurance, we would never have embraced the seed of enlightenment that is close to our heart.

So we wish and pray from the depth of our heart with all our humbleness, and say "Yes, precious guru, for now and forever, may your life be secured for kalpas and may you continue to turn the wheel of dharma for the benefit of all sentient beings.”

(to the Shambhala Student in 2009 when she requested this ceremony to Her Father for the sake of the Kongma Sakyong, head of the Shambhala Lineage).

Traditionally a Tenshuk is performed with all the students present. Because it would be difficult for many of us to attempt to be there, we would request you to be part of it from afar by gathering in group practice during the three days or if not at least at your home, enlighten our devotion and rejoicing to practice all together as one Sangha.

We would encourage you also to participate in the offerings that the PL & Ripa organizations will make there in the name of all.

See you in celebration on November 15th, 16th, and 17th

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November 2011 Newsletter

The Ripa masters are currently in Nepal starting preparation on the Karma Empowerment that will continue on for 6 weeks. They send all of us their blessings.

This story is to just recap the recent much-awaited tour of his Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche and Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche to the United States after two years. It was profound and filled with blessings and joy to all the students and the communities who have missed his pure presence last year. And it went by quickly with them bestowing teachings and blessings in New York, Vermont and Los Angeles.


New York teachings were faced with obstacles from the storm but still continued on with many blessings from the enlightened masters. The wealth Puja in purchase was a miracle in progress and all the predicted rains decided to wait till the fire puja was completed till the end of day. Namkha Rinpoche bestowed plenty of blessings to the people and the land with the enrichment gesar wealth fire offering. A very auspicious occasion attended by people despite bad weather and from afar.


Gesar Enrichment Practice and Retreat in Vermont was lead by Namkha Rinpoche and Jigme Rinpoche. It was a rare occasion after a very long time for both the teachers to be present and send bountiful of blessings to both the Ripa and the Shambala communities. The retreat was extremely profound and greatly joyous.
 
A healing ceremony then followed in Los Angeles. Very many people came to receive healing blessings from his Eminence.

A four-day taksham yeshe tsogyal retreat was held at Ari Bhod. This is the first time after the parinirvana of Lama Gyatso that his Eminence went back to the land and the experience was one of a kind…


Carl Castro shares with us his personal story…


His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche’s Visit to Ari Bhod’s Pema Drawa Retreat Center
By Carl Castro

I had very much wanted to see His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche on this year’s visit, as I had not seen him for two years, and missed him a lot. 

Further, as a member of the Shambhala community, and a student of both the first Sakyong Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the second Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, His Eminence’s visit would provide an opportunity for me to reaffirm my vow and connection not only with His Eminence and the combined family lineage of these great teachers, but also with the originators of our shared lineages, Lord Padmasambhava & Lady Yeshe Tsogyal, and King Gesar.


This visit would mark the ninth time His Eminence had given the Yeshe Tsogyal empowerment, which Lama Gyatso had requested become an annual event, for the Ari Bhod sangha.  This empowerment – together with one of the most extensive spiritual biographies or namtar of Lady Yeshe Tsogyal – are from the Taksham terma, held in the Ripa family lineage since the time of Ripa Pema Deje Rolpa, an emanation of Lady Yeshe Tsogyal’s consort Arya Sale and the speech emanation of Taksham Samten Lingpa.  Last year, His Eminence did not tour North America.  This year, the retreat at Pema Drawa - Ari Bhod’s retreat center near Tehachapi, California - would be made especially poignant with the absence of the physical manifestation of Lama Gyatso, who entered parinirvana two years ago, just a few months after His Eminence’s last visit.

Seeing His Eminence was wonderful, and His Eminence’s empowerments and teachings were, of course, profound and amazing.  It is difficult to write about this without merely stringing together superlatives, but it is something that I’m sure all the readers of this newsletter carry in their hearts.  It was also very good to see Semo Pema Dechen, one of His Eminence’s four daughters, who exemplify family Dharma lineage in their support of their father and who seem to be essential in summoning his teaching.  Many of us were fortunate to have a private audience with His Eminence, and, even though I really had nothing to say in mine, I was very grateful for it.  With this, with the Yeshe Tsogyal Empowerment, and especially with His Eminence’s added gift of the Gesar Enrichment Empowerment following, I felt that all my aspirations for attending the retreat were very beautifully and surprisingly effortlessly fulfilled.

In addition to the teacher and the teachings, the jewel of the sangha shone rather brilliantly.  It was wonderful to reconnect with old Ripa friends from the San Francisco Bay Area and from Los Angeles, and to make new friends among the Ripa and Ari Bhod sanghas, as well as other sanghas represented.  There was much conviviality during meal times and breaks, sitting together, chatting, and enjoying the natural scenery of Tehachapi Mountain, and during walks to and from cabins and tents, especially at night, sharing amazement at the multitude of stars visible from that remote elevation, and sometimes also sharing a flashlight. 

Throughout the retreat, the same Ari Bhod sangha who were responsible for supporting the teachings and empowerments, as well as serving His Eminence, also served the participants from other sanghas as hosts. We were all beneficiaries of their generosity and exertion, which were extended with an engaging, down-to-earth friendliness. The retreat ran smoothly, and the food provided by their kitchen was delicious, some of the best I’d ever had on retreat.

Several times during his teachings, and especially in concluding, His Eminence extended praise to the Ari Bhod sangha, the students of Lama Gyatso, for holding such devotion to their lama and for carrying out his wishes with such dedication and hard work.  It was impressive, I believe to all of us, how they have carried on since Lama Gyatso’s parinirvana.  Personally, I was even further amazed by their mastery of Vajrayana ritual and by the example of their practice, creating an atmosphere suffused with openness and devotion.  Adding to this was the usual great devotion and cheerfulness of the dedicated Ripa sangha, and that of many other participants with special connection to His Eminence.

Within this atmosphere, what His Eminence gave during his empowerments and teachings seemed exceptional, even for His Eminence and even for these profound topics.  The Yeshe Tsogyal ceremony was very full of both presence and ritual occasioning it, with, I believe, eight empowerments in total, for five aspects and three levels.  The Gesar Enrichment ceremony was truly powerful, and, well, quite unbelievably rich.  It felt as though His Eminence were giving everything, as fully as possible, honoring both his commitment to Lama Gyatso and the devotion of Lama’s students, as well as the continuing dedication of the visiting Ripa sangha.

Several of us were able to stay another day after the retreat ended, to say goodbye to His Eminence upon his departure.  We received the added blessing of following His Eminence on a tour of the astoundingly beautiful and detailed three-dimensional models of the Zangdok Palri and Shi Tro mandalas being constructed under the direction of Ari Bhod’s renowned resident artist lamas.   Still, when it came time for His Eminence to leave, as we gathered to offer katas and to wave goodbye, there was the joyful sadness of parting, full of gratitude, longing, and all sorts of heartfelt emotion.  It had been a truly special time with His Eminence.

May His Eminence live long; may he enjoy the best of health and spirits, and may his Dharma activity flourish; may he visit us again soon, and may we receive and serve him well and genuinely; may we continue to receive his teachings and blessings, and may we never be separated from him. 

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Ripa Ladrang Newsletter March 2011