THE MIRROR The International Newspaper of the Dzog-chen Community Issue 18 IN THIS ISSUE New A.S.I.A. projects welcomed Integration in the state of A.S.I.A., the Dzog-chen contemplation Community's non-governmental Chogyal Namkhai Norbu organization (NGO), is well on its page 2 way towards getting the go-ahead for two important new welfare projects in eastern Tibet. International The first project is for the Dzog-chen Retreats construction of a school and a hospital in the village of Dzam-thog ;• page 4 in Cham do province. Dzam-thog is situated on the border between Tsegyelgar wins Cham do in the Autonomous Region of Tibet and Sichuan province. This building permits means that the new facilities should pageS become available to Tibetans living in nearby villages in both provinces. A contribution of a figure in the Report from order of a million dollars has been Buryatia officially requested from the Italian page 5 Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project has already received the backing of the Ministry, the Community Italian NGO office of the Ministry and the Italian embassy in Beijing. membership This project has temporarily page 6 replaced earlier plans for building schools and hospitals in Galen-ting village in Sichuan province and at Beyond mere Khamdo gar in Chamdo Prefecture. Some of the Tibetan children in Dang-che learning... These plans had run aground over a series of bureaucratic difficulties. Dang-che. For the five hundred view of Tibetan children studying In their promptresponse, the local Gheshe Lobsang Gyaiso The new project again reflects children of school age in the area a all subjects in their own language. government sent the necessary pages 8 & 9 Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's concern Tibetan language school would Dang-che is also the birthplace authorizations, designs for the to help Tibetans in a concrete way in represent a major opportunity for of Cai Rang Tar (Jse Ring Thar), school, photographs of the children matters such as the provision of their education. At present, the only the Tibetan research scholar from (see above) and the village. Guess which world educational and health facilities. school in the area is a Han speaking the Chinese Centre forTibetological The total cost of the project is you're in! one, and few Tibetans actually speak The other project which A.S.I.A. Studies in Beijing, who in the last around 130,000 dollars, which will Elio Guarisco is currently engaged in preparing is Chinese. year has been studying and working have to be raised privately. The for a school in the area of Dang-che At the recent conference on the at the Shang Shung Institute at project will be presented as soon as page 10 in the Amdo part of Qinghai prov­ Tibetan language organized by the Merigar. Tse Ring Thar has written possible to the new 'running ince. Over six thousand Tibetans Shang Shung Institute, speakers to the Chinese local government, committee' of the Associazione A conversation with live mainly as farmers and nomadic from al 1 parts stressed the importance setting out the possibility of realizing Culturale Comunità Dzog-chen to shepherds in the villages around from a purely educational point of the project with the help of A.S.I.A. discuss fund finding strategies. Batodalay Dugarov page 11 MOVING ACROSS THE WORLD MANDALA Bringing the After the s uccessf ul condusionofthe Tibetan Lang uage Conference held practice into daily at the beginning of September at Merigar, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu set off hfe on the second leg of his international teaching tour around the globe. After giving teachings in Vancouver, Canada, Rinpoche's journey took him to Khamtrul Rinpochz retreat venues in Santa Fe, San Francisco and Hawaii in the United States. page 12 At all these places, in addition to the organization required to hold a large retreat there had been much caref u I activity beforehand to prepare Mándalas on which to practise the Dances that Rinpoche is teaching. In California, for Book releases example, Community people constructed a 25 foot portable Mandala from a plastic material which can be laid inside or outside for dancing. Many ••. J-. page 13 practitioners followed the steps of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu in this practise to integrate our three existences - the Dance of the Vajra. From North America, Rinpoche continued his journey towards the west "Linie Buddha", stopping to teach in Tokyo, Japan and Singapore. At the time of going to Bertolucci's inner press he is giving teachings in New South Wales, Australia. From Christmas on Rinpoche will be travelling and teaching through Argentina, Peru and quest Venezuela in South America returning to Tsegyelgar and New York for retreats early in the spring. From April 9-18, 1993, Merigar will be host to Paolo Brunatto a retreat given by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, the first on his return to Italy. II page 1$ ISSUE 18 2 Integration in the state of contemplation By Chögyal Namkhai Norbu To observe our condition, we mustobserveit through our thoughts, In the first week of the Christmas 1992 otherwise wecannotreach the empty state. If we want to understand the retreat at Merigar, Namkhai Norbu capacity and nature of the mirror, Rinpoche gave the lung and commented on we have to stand in front of it and reflect ourselves in it. Reflections aDzog-chen Semde text (rdzogs chen sems indicate that the mirror has the capacity to reflect. Through the sde'i khrid y ig) by the Master Sogdogpa reflection we can understand the Lodro Gy alt zen (Sog bzlog pa bio gros capacity of the mirror. With our thoughts and movements we can rgyalmtshan ) ( 16th century ).Inthe original also understand that we have emptiness. So observe the thought, text, Sogdogpa explains suitable and when you observe it, what approaches to the practicefor practitioners happens? What you find is emptiness. Even if you observe it of different abilities. The following extract hundreds of times, you never find from Rinpoche's commentary begins at the anything but emptiness bee ause that is the conclusion at which you arrive. lower level amongst those of higher ability, This is the real uninterrupted condition that is called Dharmakay a. and goes on to deal with the intermediate This is not something you find levels of ability. outside. It is our own inner condition. Recognising this and being in this state means recognition of the ones attachment, it is not so sacred. It is the same with the function of And those who have more shine and lhagtong together. Dharmakaya. But if one is not distracted and has all the elements. For example if we emotions will have more clarity of And even though we are in this ones self-liberation, that is presence have contact with the element fire, wisdom. Generally in Tantrism it is Shine and lhagtong emptiness, thoughts always conti­ that receives the contact of the sense we will have the experience of heat said that whoever has more passion, Shine is the calm state and nue to arise. There is always objects, then that becomes part of If it is contact with water, humidity. has more wisdom. But this doesn't lhagtong means not only being in something moving. There is not clarity. Whatever contact we have, Each element has its characteristic. mean passion in a normal way. It the calm state but noticing the absolute emptiness with nothing. In it is self-liberated. In that case, it is When we have that contact we have means somebody who has the movement of thoughts, and this emptiness clarity is never said that everything is Kuntuzangpo the living experience of that capacity to be in a state of presence integrating with that movement. In lacking and the clarity that manifests (Kun-tu bzang-po). Everything is characteristic but usually we are or has the capacity for the Dzog-chen Semde we talk about is part of our qualification and is Saman tabhadra. distracted by all these experiences. transformation. In that case the the four contemplations, in that case called Sambhogakaya. The If instead of being distracted we are greater passion becomes the greater shine and lhagtong are separate and alternation of this emptiness and " Self-liberation present, with that presence, without wisdom. The more wood you have, they are gone into gradually. clarity is uninterrupted and in What does self-liberation mean changing or modifying anything, we the bigger the fire. But if you don't Whereas in this method it is different Tantrism is called tantra: and how do we self-liberate our can have that self-liberation. have the capacity for transformation and shine and lhagtong go together. continuation without interruption. sense contact with objects? If we or the capacity to govern it with In the Gong Du, the original For example, that is why, in don't self-liberate these, then it Clarity presence, then the more passion you Dzog-chen text from which this is Tantrism, we do transformation. We means that it is just norm al Samsara, In the original Dzog-chen texts it have, the more you enter into taken, it says, "If you don't find know that the transformation starts and Dzog-chen is not working. says of this, that all of our sense - samsara. The more passion you yourself in the calm state of shine, from emptiness and that its When Dzog-chen is working it is contact with objects represents have, the more suffering you create. you cannot discover what lhagtong conclusion is emptiness. But there guided by presence and we are able clarity. If this clarity is not distracted means".