Dark Retreat
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Dark Retreat
Dark retreat (Allione, Tsultrim (2000). ''Women of Wisdom''. (Includes transcribed interview with Namkhai Norbu) Source(accessed: November 15, 2007)) is a spiritual retreat in a space that is completely absent of light, which is an advanced practice in the Dzogchen and Kalachakra lineages of Tibetan Buddhism and Bön. Overview The dark retreat environment of the Bon religion is particularly conducive to the practice of certain visionary yogas (such as the “six-limbed yoga” of Kalacakra and the Dzogchen practice of ''Thögal'' for the attainment of the Rainbow Body), which according to Hatchell are "techniques that lead to the experience of spontaneously arising visual experiences, which are said to occur without deliberate effort or conceptual imagination, and which appear before the practitioner’s eyes." According Hatchell, the Kalacakra system's six yogas:instruct the yogi to spend lengthy periods either gazing at the blank sky or residing in a dark room specially prepa ...
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Namkhai Norbu
Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, particularly in the fields of history, literature, traditional religions (Tibetan Buddhism and Bon), and Traditional Tibetan medicine, having written numerous books and scholarly articles on these subjects. When he was two years old, Norbu was recognized as the 'mindstream emanation', a tulku, of the Dzogchen teacher Adzom Drugpa (1842–1924). At five, he was also recognized as a mindstream emanation of an emanation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594–1651). At the age of sixteen, he met master Rigdzin Changchub Dorje (1863–1963), who became his main Dzogchen teacher. In 1960, he went to Italy at the invitation of Giuseppe Tucci and served as Professor of Tibetan and Mongolian Language and Literature from 1964 to 1992 at Naples Eastern ...
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Rigpa
In Dzogchen, ''rigpa'' (; Skt. vidyā; "knowledge") is knowledge of the ground. The opposite of ''rigpa'' is ''ma rigpa'' ('' avidyā'', ignorance). A practitioner who has attained the state of ''rigpa'' and is able to rest there continuously is called a ''Rigdzin'' (see Vidyadhara), which may be used as a title either pre- or post-nominally. ''Rigpa'' (knowledge) ''Rigpa'' (Sanskrit: ''vidyā'', 'knowledge') is a central concept in Dzogchen. According to Ācārya Malcolm Smith: ''Rigpa'' is the knowledge of the ground. It has also come to mean the 'pristine awareness' that is the fundamental ground itself. Erik Pema Kunsang translates a text which provides basic definitions of ''rigpa'' and ''ma rigpa'' in a Dzogchen context: Rigpa has two aspects, namely ''kadag'' and ''lhun grub''. ''Kadag'' means "purity" or specifically "primordial purity". ''Lhun grub'' in Tibetan normally implies automatic, self-caused or spontaneous actions or processes. As quality of ''rigp ...
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Tibetan Buddhist Practices
Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect ** Tibetan pinyin, a method of writing Standard Tibetan in Latin script ** Tibetan script ** any other of the Tibetic languages Tibetan may additionally refer to: Culture * Old Tibetan, an era of Tibetan history * Tibetan art * Music of Tibet * Tibetan rug * Tibetan culture * Tibetan cuisine Religion * Tibetan Buddhism * Tibetan Muslims Other uses * Tibetan alphabet * Tibetan (Unicode block) * Tibetan name * Tibetan calendar * Tibetan Spaniel, a breed of dog * Tibetan Mastiff, a breed of dog See also * Tibetan Bells (other) * Traditional Tibetan medicine * Tibetan language (other) Tibetan language may refer to: * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Lhasa Tib ...
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Spiritual Retreats
Spiritual is the adjective for spirit. Spiritual may also refer to: Religion * Spirituality, a concern with matters of the spirit **Spiritual attack, an attack by Satan and his demons on a Christian ** Spiritual body, a Christian term for resurrection **Spiritual but not religious, a religious categorization ** Spiritual bypass, a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks" ** Spiritual communion, a Christian practice of desiring union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist **Spiritual crisis, a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system typically because of a spontaneous spiritual experience **Spiritual death, absence of spirituality **Spiritual development, the development of the personality towards a religious or spiritual desired better personality ** Spiritual direction, the practice of being with people as they ...
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Meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions. The earliest records of meditation (''dhyana'') are found in the Upanishads, and meditation plays a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Since the 19th century, Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have also found application in non-spiritual contexts, such as business and health. Meditation may significantly reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, and enhance peace, perception, self-concept, and well-being. Research is ongoing to better understand the effects of meditation on health (psychology, psychological, neurology, neurological, and cardiovascular) and other areas. Etymol ...
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Consciousness Studies
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scientists. Opinions differ about what exactly needs to be studied or even considered consciousness. In some explanations, it is synonymous with the mind, and at other times, an aspect of mind. In the past, it was one's "inner life", the world of introspection, of private thought, imagination and volition. Today, it often includes any kind of cognition, experience, feeling or perception. It may be awareness, awareness of awareness, or self-awareness either continuously changing or not. The disparate range of research, notions and speculations raises a curiosity about whether the right questions are being asked. Examples of the range of descriptions, definitions or explanations are: simple wakefulness, one's sense of selfhood or soul explored ...
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Religion Articles Needing Expert Attention
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith,Tillich, P. (1957) ''Dynamics of faith''. Harper Perennial; (p. 1). a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religions have ...
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Menngagde
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, Menngagde (, sa, upadeśavarga), is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen (''Great Perfection'' ). Dzogchen is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Menngagde focuses on rigpa. The Menngagde or 'Instruction Class' of Dzogchen teachings are divided into two parts: ''trekchö'' and ''tögel''. Practice For general purposes, Menngagde may also be known as Nyingthik. Germano & Gyatso (2000: p. 240) note a similarity of practice between Chan-like formless meditations and Nyingthik/Menngagde: In the Dzogchen textual tradition Traditionally, Mañjuśrīmitra () is said to have classified all the Dzogchen teachings transmitted by his teacher, Garab Dorje, into three series: semdé (), Longdé (), and menngagdé. Mañjuśrīmitra's student Sri Singha reedited the oral instruction cycle and in this form the teaching was transmitted to Jñ ...
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Dilgo Khyentse
Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1988 to 1991, he is also considered an eminent proponent of the Rime tradition. As the primary custodian of the teachings of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Dilgo Khyentse was the de facto custodian of the vast majority of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. He taught many eminent teachers, including the Dalai Lama. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, his personal effort was crucial in the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism. Biography Early life, ancestry He was born in 1910 in the Denhok Valley at Kham Derge, Eastern Tibet, to a family directly descended from the ninth-century King Trisong Detsen. His father was a minister to the King of Derge. When he was seven years old, he was publicly recognized as one of the reincarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ...
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Ayu Khandro
Ayu Khandro (Long Life Dakini), also known as Dorje Paldrön, lived from 1839 to 1953. She was a practitioner, yogini, and terton of Tibetan Buddhism in Eastern Tibet. An accomplished Dzogchen meditator, she is renowned for her extensive pilgrimages throughout Tibet, long periods of dark retreat practice, the gongtera directly revealed text, terma, in the mind of the practitioner of the practice of the yidam Senge Dongma (the Lion-Faced Dakini), various forms of Chöd, and her lifelong dedication to spiritual practice. The information we have about Ayu Khandro comes from the oral commentary that she personally gave to Chogyal Namkhai Norbu in Dzongsa, 1951. He wrote her namthar, or spiritual biography, which was later published in ''Women of Wisdom'' by Tsultrim Allione. Ayu Khandro met, and was taught by, many great masters of her day ; Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul the First, Chokgyur Lingpa, Nyala Pema Dündul, Adzom Drukpa, Togden Rangrig and the ninth Tai S ...
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Rainbow Body
In Dzogchen, rainbow body (, Jalü or Jalus) is a level of realization. This may or may not be accompanied by the 'rainbow body phenomenon'. The rainbow body phenomenon is pre-Buddhist in origin, and is a topic which has been treated fairly seriously in Tibet for centuries past and into the modern era. Other Vajrayana teachings also mention rainbow body phenomena. Rigpa The rainbow body phenomenon is a third person perspective of someone else attaining complete knowledge (). Knowledge is the absence of delusion regarding the display of the basis. Rigpa has three wisdoms, which are ''kadag'', ''lhun grub'' and ''thugs rje''. Kadag deals with ''trekchö''. The ''lhun grub'' aspect has to do with esoteric practices, such as (but not limited to) tögal, that self-liberate the human body into a Sambhogakāya (rainbow body phenomenon). The symbol of Dzogchen is a Tibetan "A" wrapped in a ''thigle''. The "A" represents ''kadag'' while the ''thigle'' represents ''lhun grub''. The thi ...
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