  |
|
Greater Community(Items can be listed for up to 3 weeks) Dzogchen Buddhist Meditation Center Presents: Pointing-Out Natural, Uncontrived Awareness, The Practice/Realization of a Buddha Saturday January 15th 9a.m. til 12noon and 1p.m. til 4p.m. Sunday January 16th 9 a.m. til 12 noon Buddhist practice and realization is based on the recognition of the unconditioned mind in the present moment of our experience. This is the mind of the Buddha -- transcending the conditioned, habitual mind. The unconditional mind is something which is very easy to recognize because it is simply a moment of uncontrived, natural awareness. However, it always seems necessary for us to have this moment of uncontrived natural awareness pointed-out to us by a master of the lineage. The difficulty then lies in learning how to sustain that recognition and to put in the time on the meditation cushion to actually allow this familiarization to develop. This is the nature of the path to enlightenment as illuminated by the Great Perfection teachings of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. In this retreat we will work with the remarkable pointing-out instructions of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche as we refine our experience and understanding of this uncontrived, unconditioned moment of complete awareness. We will also develop training practices which will help us enhance and sustain our recognition of ‘fresh, present wakefulness‘-- namely the traditional development and completion stages of Guru Yoga and the practice of ‘short moments of uncontrived awareness repeated many times.’ “The training in recognizing your essence is simply to let be in naturalness. Naturalness here means without any technique, without artifice. Here is a very simple example of naturalness: does the water in the river require someone to push or pull it downstream, or does it naturally flow: You don’t need to do anything to it. The wood that makes up my table here has been crafted into this shape. When it was a tree growing on the mountainside it was natural, unmodified. Then a carpenter took it and worked it into a table. Now it is artificial. We need to avoid shaping our awareness into something artificial. The very moment you recognize, don’t worry or judge or speculate about it. Don’t do anything to it. Don’t try to improve or alter it. Allow no distraction to last as long as it lasts, as undistracted naturalness. See clearly that there is no thing to see, without trying to improve or alter that.” Tulku Urgyen As It Is Vol. 1 This retreat is free and open to all levels of practitioners. There is no charge for attending. There is a suggested donation of $7.00 for oryoki lunch which will be served in the practice room on Saturday. Tashi Armstrong is the facilitator of this retreat and director of the Dzogchen Buddhist Meditation Center in West Bath, Maine. Tashi was a student of the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his Vajra Regent Osel Tenzin attending the Vajradhatu Seminary with his root gurus in 1986. Taking his tantric vows in 1990. Tashi lived in residence at Karme Choling in Vermont and Rocky Mountain Dharma Center for over 6 years in the 1980s and now is a student of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and the Chokling Tersar Lineage. To register for this retreat call Tashi at 443-3842 or email at nmrc@comcast.net
Writes Of Passage: Full and Half day Writing Retreats in January (No writing experience needed!) For more information: Jan2011-writesofpassageworkshop.
Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science Instructor: Bill Rixon Dates: January 24-February 28 Day: Mondays (no class 2/21) Time: 7:00-8:30 pm Location: Freeport High School room 102 Fee: $40/$50 non-rsu5 Course #: 23-123 call 865-6171 to register
Camp Sew & Sew: A weekly ‘creativity retreat’ for your busy life!
|
|
