At Bodhicharya Berlin, and streamed on Zoom, Rinpoche gave a series of teachings on Ngöndro, the preliminary practices of Mahamudra. The first talk is on the meaning of Refuge as part of Ngöndro.

Video and audio include consecutive translation to German. Translation to French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese was done on Zoom.

A SUMMARY
by Maggy Jones

Rinpoche comments on Ngöndro * practice, its purpose, the 4 Thoughts **. First he will focus on Refuge. There are 3 objects of Refuge – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Buddha. The Buddha is a guide, a teacher, a focus of inspiration.

Dharma. The dharma is the experience of the Buddha, the teachings of the Buddha. This inspires you to know more.

Sangha. People who have been studying and practising dharma for generations. You receive the dharma from the Sangha and make a commitment to learn.

You take Refuge trusting that this path will help you to transform and live a more meaningful life.

There is another deeper level. You transform yourself to become a Buddha to bring benefit to all beings. The Dharma will show you how; you cannot change the world but you can change yourself. This will be hard and demands practice. Story of a Priest’s epitaph.

In Ngöndro first visualise the Refuge tree; Rinpoche describes the Tree, the Great Beings and the surrounds. Feel compassion for all – particularly those you dislike. Prostrations show your respect and diminish arrogance.

         * Ngöndro Practice is 100 000 recitations each of Refuge & Bodhicitta; Dorjé Sempa; Mandala offering; Guru Yoga

         ** 4 Thoughts: Precious human birth; death and impermanence; karma; samsara

For more information, visit: https://www.bodhicharya.de