No. 98 May, June 2009 Upcoming Retreats with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Photo: G. Horner 2009–2010 Italy August 10–16 Dzogchen Medjung, The Marvelous Retreat Sang offering at Merigar East. Photo: G. Ladra Oct. 2–10 Bepai Gumchung, The Hidden Collection of Buddhagupta Retreat Oct. 23–30 The sunfl owers are now Shitro Khorde Rangdrol Retreat Spain Nov. 13–17 budding Dzogchen Teaching Retreat Venezuela The retreat at Merigar East with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Dec. 4–11 June 12–21 Dzogchen Longsal Longde Teaching Retreat Harri Jäälinoja Dec. 26–January 3 Mandarava Tsedrub Chüdlen Retreat reetings from Merigar East! For End of Merigar. In fact, getting here may be just fl y with Ryanair from Pisa or Bologna January 16–30 the third year now, our Master even easier. Most likely, you fi rst fl y to Bu- directly to Constanta, only about an hour The Drubchen of Mandarava and Vajapani GChögyal Namkhai Norbu is giv- charest and take a taxi downtown. When away from 23 August. ing Dzogchen teachings here near the vil- you tell the driver you want to get on a bus Argentina lage of 23 August. And for the second year to Mangalia (a holiday resort near 23 Au- The easiest accommodation in Merigar Tashigar Sur now, the normal teaching retreat, this time gust), he will drive you to a bus depot near East is the Romanian “cazare” system, February 12 focusing on the essence of the teachings the Gare de Nord railway station. Then you which means that you come to stay with Inauguration of Tashi Sur’s Gompa of Garab Dorje, is followed by Santi Maha simply enter the bus to Mangalia (which a local family in their house. This is used February 14 Sangha Base Level exams and the First seem to go very often, I never had to wait by the native tourists as well. On the road- Tibetan Losar festival with a Mandarava Level training. In addition to Rinpoche’s for more than 15 minutes), and after some sides near tourist areas there are people, practice teachings we have a kumbhaka course 4 or 5 hours in a comfortable air-condi- usually elderly ladies, dangling keys as a by Fabio Andrico and teachings on the tioned bus with video entertainment you sign that they have rooms for rent. In the February 16 Kunjed Gyalpo by Yeshi Namkhai, which arrive! Once you know your way around, internet age, we don’t need to make the Sang and Serkyem Offerings means that altogether we have one month you may want to save the taxi fare (which daring move of making direct contact with February 12–24 of very intensive activity. depends on how stupid a tourist you are), the key person. Instead, the Merigar East Dzogchen teaching and practice retreat and take bus 790 instead, that costs only 1 offi ce can help you arrange the accommo- To some, coming to Romania may sound euro. Or if you arrive in a group, you may dation beforehand. And when you’ve done Venezuela like an exotic East European adventure, but notice it is actually a feasible idea to take it once, it just gets easier: you can just call March 8–12 when you make the trip once, you notice it the taxi all the way to the Black Sea. Ital- your hosts and tell them you are com- Tashigar Norte retreat is not so different than coming to the West ians are the most fortunate ones, they can ing again (ok, for this to work you maybe March 19–25 >> continued on page 8 Teachers’ trainings: SMS base, 1st Levels; Vajra Dance, Yantra Yoga 1st and 2nd levels Teaching Teaching News Trinidad April 23–25 Weekend teaching Chögyal Namkhai Yeshi Silvano Retreats in Norbu Namkhai Moscow and Venezuela Germany Tashigar Norte The Origins of the The Seven Line April 30–May 2 Dzogchen Teaching Prayer SMS Base Level Exam May 3–9 SMS 1st Level training >> continued on page 26 » Page 2 » Page 3 » Pages 14–15 THE MIRROR · No. 98 · May, June 2009 2 countryside. Buddha was omniscient and sometimes he knew that there were some problems and for this reason he empowered things like a tree, like a stupa, like a rock, from which the sounds of the teaching came out. People could hear and could understand and knew what they should do to overcome these problems, for example. One of these very important Mahayana sutras is called ‘Ngawo Che Chenpoi leu Do (rnga bo che chen po’i le’u’i mdo)’ which means the sutra of the Devas’ Drum. In the dimension of the Devas there was a very big drum, but even though no- body was sounding this drum, a teaching came out from it which is called a sutra and is very long, not just a few words. This is also considered to be the words of Buddha Shakyamuni. So there are also these kinds of teachings of Buddha. Another is called ‘lung du tenpai ka (lung du bstan pa’i bka’)’ which means that the Dzogchen Teacher Garab Dorje gave Dzogchen teachings. Dzogchen teaching goes beyond cause and effect, but what Buddha taught is kar- ma, cause and effect, and they are different. At the time of the Buddha, the Buddha understood that it was most important to teach cause and effect because most people couldn’t understand what going beyond cause and effect meant. So then Buddha said that one day there would be a teacher just like him who would give teaching going be- yond cause and effect. That is called ‘lung du tenpai ka (lung du bstan pa’i bka’)’ which means predicting about the Bud- dha to come in the future. Garab Dorje The Origins of the Garab Dorje was the fi rst to teach Dzogchen teaching in our dimension in our epoch and he was born and taught at more or less the same period as Nagarjuna, which means around 300 years after Buddha manifested death. And so Dzogchen Teaching that teaching of Dzogchen developed and then everybody, particularly scholars of the Buddhist tradition, immedi- An excerpt from a Teaching at Merigar East, Romania, June 12th 2009 ately understood that Garab Dorje was a manifestation of Buddha Shakyamuni and that Dzogchen teaching was the most important teaching. Why is it the most important? want to explain to you why Dzogchen teaching is con- We are Vajrayana practitioners and we approach this When you talk about cause and effect, this is the relative sidered to be Buddhist teaching. This is something in the way that Vajrayana is presented. First we consider condition and ordinary people do not have much knowl- I useful that you should know. ‘zhalne sungpai ka (zhal nas gsungs pa’i bka’)’ that means the edge or understanding or capacity to go beyond that. Of You see, in the Buddhist teaching, it is always consid- teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni, how Buddha taught by course if people know how to go beyond that, it means ered that Buddha Shakyamuni taught it. If we check in the mouth, which means oral teaching. This is sutra, Hina- they have a high capacity so for that reason in that peri- teachings that Buddha Shakyamuni actually taught to see yana and Mahayana. Buddha taught both of these orally. od there were many scholars who knew and taught that if there is Dzogchen teaching or not, we will see that no Buddha also taught some of the Mahayana teachings in knowledge and understood that it was an essential teach- type of Dzogchen teaching exists. So how should we con- the dimension of the Devas. Not all Mahayana teachings ing and needed high capacity. sider Dzogchen teaching? were taught in the human condition but were introduced When Garab Dorje was a small boy, he chanted one of For example, in the sutra style of teaching, some tradi- into the human condition later. In any case, these kinds the important Dzogchen texts called ‘Dorje Sempa Nam- tions of Hinayana are very convinced that their way is the of teachings called the oral teachings of Buddha Shakya- kha Che’ which means the ‘Total Space of Vajrasattva’ and only teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni and they also do not muni are related to his physical body. However, this is not explains in a complete way how to go beyond cause and accept Mahayana teaching. After Buddha manifested Pari- the only type of teaching, but in the Hinayana, they only effect. When Garab Dorje chanted it as a small boy, many nirvana, most Mahayana teachings were not widespread know this type and do not accept others. Buddhist scholars heard about this and were worried be- in that period. Most Mahayana teachings were also not re- Another type of teaching is ‘jesu nangwai ka (rjes su gnang cause he was chanting a teaching going beyond cause and ceived by human beings. Of course, there were some hu- ba’i bka’)’ which means that Buddha gave permission. This effect. They thought that cause and effect was the essence man beings but mostly they were received by the class of also means giving the teaching of Buddha. ‘Jesu (rjes su)’ of Buddha Shakyamuni’s teaching. That was in Oddi yana Devas and these types of beings who invited all the Maha- means that Buddha was not teaching orally but asked one and they sent messages to India – in that period there yana teachings into their dimensions. Most of the teach- of his good students to explain something. Or someone was the very famous Nalanda University in India where ings that were widespread were Hinayana.