Please join us for our upcoming monthly nyinthün program on Sunday, November 7, 2021. The focus of the next nyinthün will be Guru Yoga, also known as training in devotion. According to the Western calendar, His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje passed into Parinirvana on Nov 5, 1981. In commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of this Parinirvana event, we will be engaging in Guru Yoga practices.
Please register HERE.
In the Tibetan language, nyin means “day,” and thun means meditation “session.” The nyinthün program will recur on the first Sunday of every month, during which Lama Rabten will focus on a selected practice; such as, Chenrezig, Amitabha, Tara, Vajrasattva, etc., and will offer guided meditation and practice instructions.
Schedule for November 7, 2021 (PST – Please note the time change):
9:00-10:00am Guru Rinpoche Practice
10:00-10:30am Break
10:30-12:00pm Guru Yoga by the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa
12:00-2:00pm Lunch Break
2:00-3:30pm Calling the Guru From Afar by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé
3:30-4:00pm Break
4:00-5:30pm Guru Yoga by the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa followed by Mahakala Practice
The practices will be in Tibetan language with English phonetics. Liturgies will be screen-shared.
Registration and Making Offerings:
Please register HERE and a Zoom meeting link and passcode will be send to you automatically.
This program is free, though offerings are much appreciated. To make an offering, please follow this link: https://vancouver.nalandabodhi.ca/donate/.
About the Practices:
Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche (the Precious Guru), is said to be the embodiment of the guru principle, the heart of Vajrayana Buddhism. By meditating on Guru Rinpoche, we engage in merging one’s own body, speech, and mind with the enlightened body, speech, and mind of the guru; blessing the path of recognising our own Buddha-nature.
“Why is the practice guru yoga, (union with the nature of the guru) so important? Because, with the help of the outer teacher, the inner teacher (the true nature of our own mind) is discovered. Until that point is reached, it is risky to be overconfident and rely solely on one’s own methods for self-transformation. Although the path can be trodden only by individual effort, the advice of an experienced guide is invaluable. Since the guru is a living person, he or she is able to deal directly with the student’s ego. Whether this is achieved wrathfully or gently doesn’t matter, but in the end this is what the guru is there to do, and this is why guru devotion is so important. In the end, the guru who we have seen as the Buddha is known to be the same as one’s own mind.” — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Mahakala is the main Dharma Protector of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. By practising Mahakala we eliminate outer, inner, and secret obstacles in our Dharma practice and develop the capacity to benefit ourselves and others.
About the Teacher:
Lama Rabten’s dharma education started at a very young age and he spent his early years training at Rumtek Monastery, seat of Gyalwang Karmapa in Sikkim, India. In 2000 he completed three-year retreat at Pullahari Retreat Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal, under the guidance of Drupon Khenpo Lodro Namgyal, Bokar Rinpoche, Tenga Rinpoche, and Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. To serve the Nalandabodhi community, Lama Rabten came to Canada in 2002 under the invitation of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Lama Rabten is now the resident teacher and spiritual director of Nalandabodhi Canada. He is fluent in several languages, including Tibetan, Mandarin, and English and he teaches and supports Nalandabodhi students throughout Canada.
Thank you all and we look forward to practicing together!
Sarva Mangalam
Date/Time
Date(s) - Sun., November 7, 2021
9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Location Nalandabodhi Vancouver – Online
