Teachings in Samye Ling and Europe
Akong Rinpoche’s Commemorative Stupa
On arriving in Samye Ling, Drupon Rinpoche’s first activity was to consecrate a stupa that had been built in commemoration of Akong Rinpoche.
In 2013 after the passing of Akong Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe Rinpoche asked Drupon Rinpoche to commission and oversee the building of a stupa. It took two years to build and it was filled and consecrated by Drupon Rinpoche on the 08.10.2015, the second anniversary of Akong Rinpoche’s passing.
One Week Retreat in Samye Ling
The third annual meditation and mind training retreat presided over by Drupon Rinpoche in Samye Ling was arranged to coincide with the anniversary of Akong Rinpoche’s passing, and started in the afternoon of the 8th of October.
In the meditation teachings Rinpoche gave, he placed a lot of emphasis on the causes which bring about meditation. He gave very thorough and logical explanations on how the preliminaries prepare us for meditation.
He explained, “Until we deal with what our mind runs off to and is distracted by, we will never be able to meditate properly. So we should look into that. We will probably see that it is the things of the material world that we find ourselves thinking about. We pay them attention because we see them to be stable and lasting, and thus, of value. But if we were to examine these things thoroughly, we would see their impermanence and unreliability. This would reduce our clinging to them. Because having seen through them, they lose their value. Our mind would not pay attention to them any longer and it would come to settle automatically.”
With this, and with many equally enlightening instructions, Rinpoche showed how the preliminaries and meditation are in fact a single practice toward a single goal.
The text Rinpoche used as the basis for his mind training instructions was Yangonpa’s Instructions of Training the Mind. The manner of Rinpoche’s teaching this time did not divide the meditation and mind training into separate topics but he showed how they are essentially the same.
We were all amazed at the lucidity of his instructions and ended the retreat feeling we had gained a definite path to tread.
Ngondro Teachings
Rinpoche gave two weeks of instructions on the mahamudra preliminaries, principally for the sake of those about to enter into a one year provisional retreat but also for those who committed themselves to complete the preliminary practices in a retreat environment. Rinpoche based his teachings on A Torch for the Definitive Meaning, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche’s instruction manual on the mahamudra preliminaries.
The teachings finished three days before ‘the anniversary of the descent of the Buddha’ (Lhabab Duchen) during which time the retreatants headed over to the retreat centres on Holy Isle and Arran in order to be ready to start their retreat on this sacred anniversary.
Samye Dzongs and Europe
Rinpoche visited four of the various Samye Dzongs (the satellite centres of Samye Ling) around the world.
First he visited Samye Dzong Edinburgh, where he taught about the meaning of the Three Jewels and meditation. His presentation of the Three Jewels made it very clear how the Jewels are directly relevant to our lives and practice.
He visited Samye Dzong Glasgow next and taught about what is needed to become a good Dharma practitioner.
From Glasgow Rinpoche headed to Samye Dzong Brussels. He taught for three days in Brussels. He again taught a very practical way of relating to the Three Jewels and how to approach the practice of Dharma.
After his time in Belgium, Rinpoche headed to the Thrangu Dharma Centre in Cologne, Germany.
Rinpoche then spent a night in Paris, on the way to Samye Dzong Barcelona. The lamas, monks and nuns of the centre and connected gompa had been inviting Rinpoche for a number of years. In the Dharma Centre Rinpoche gave an introduction to mind training (lojong). The next day Rinpoche went to the gompa and presided over a retreat with teachings on calm abiding meditation. There were four meditation sessions a day, which Rinpoche attended with the students, and two teachings sessions. All of the students expressed their wish to receive more teachings from Rinpoche, however it may be possible.