His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, a teacher renowned for his tremendously compassionate activity, has created exactly the right environment for anyone to work with their hearts, truly a special opportunity for Western people who would like to enter the stream of practice in Buddhist traditions. In 1998 he established a retreat center in upstate New York, far from the distractions of modern life.
The center is located in rolling farmlands, not in the mountainous and tourist-filled Catskills, and not very near any major city areas. The environment is truly rural, located in a place where the loudest noises are the mooing of cows on a distant farm. Surrounded by state forest land, deer freely ramble across center property. A peaceful pond lies far from even the center activities. Other places exist for quiet reflection and peaceful inner searching.
The "Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand" retreat cycle is traditional within Tibetan Buddhism. His Holiness' monks have commented that never before have such teachings been offered by His Holiness in quite this way, not even in Namdroling in South India. The series spans seven years starting with the foundation practices through the second year inner heat practices, through the highest level of Dzogchen. The progressive program is clear and step-by-step, giving you the tools you need for finding your good heart. This summer retreat program is suitable for all levels -- newcomers, intermediate and advanced students.
If you are new to Buddhism and don't yet feel ready to commit to a month-long retreat, you should plan on coming for the first week of the retreat. In that first week, you will get a taste of some of the very fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhist practice. You might also consider joining the Fourth of July weekend Retreat lead by one of our khenpos. See our "Weekend Retreats" section for more information.
Additionally, the Palyul Center is in a cool, lake-effected climate making your stay particularly comfortable in the summer months. The retreat is set in rolling farmlands, a stress-free environment of green fields and fresh-mown hay surrounded by state forest.
For those who have completed their Ngondrö, or have a good start on it, there is an opportunity to truly advance to the next level. On a case-by-case basis, His Holiness has allowed even students who have completed Ngondrö, in other traditions to participate in the Tsa Lung course.
During the retreat, His Holiness will confer empowerments ("wangs"), grand ceremonial rituals which function both as practice and to enable participants to make a connection to certain practices.
We hope you will join us!
The retreat is usually held July 10 to August 10 yearly. This is subject to change should His Holiness Penor Rinpoche have other international duties requiring his attendance.
Every year His Holiness Penor Rinpoche grants the Empowerments, called "wangs" in Tibetan, necessary to enable practitioners to receive the blessings to start on the path within the Nam Cho cycle of teachings.
Empowerments are a ritual ceremony in which attendees are introduced to the object of meditation, the deity, and are formally given permission to practice.
These are open to the general public as empowerments that are not will not be publicized. Please note that special empowerments may be given to third year and onward students. Visitors may *not* attend these empowerments and sometimes may not attend if they have completed the appropriate level course. Please check with Lama Lobsang for permission.
Dress Code: Nice dress is preferred, nothing low-cut. During Empowerments we try to look as pleasing to the eye as we possibly can.
Offerings: You may give an offering or even just a khatag at the end of the ceremony. Khatag (white silk scarfs) are available for a small charge outside the temple on the honor system.
Tsok: If you know what Tsok is and wish to help offer it, please ask the office to connect you with the Shrine Team.
Seeing His Holiness individually after the Empowerment: There's no guarantee this will be possible. Generally speaking, His Holiness will often see students visiting on weekends in the morning. You will need to ask the office for more information or ask the monks in the monk residence.
The standard yearly Empowerments include Vajrasattva, Guru Rinpoche, Amitabha and Amitayuus. The schedule for each individual year is posted below.
The current schedule for wangs for 2008 is as follows. Please note - this is subject to change!
Call 607-656-9640 to check on the schedule.
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July 19: Refuge Vows |
Part of the path is the maintenance of certain sense of the sacred that has been called "secret". Certain practices are not spoken about at all as they are so sacred and so important to the path that practitioners are only given these teachings when they are ready to receive them. This comes about through a commitment to completing the practice of Ngondrö and a commitment to the path in general. For many reasons, so that these teachings are not mis-used nor mis-understood, practitioners who have received such sacred teachings maintain this secrecy as part of their words of honor vows ("samaya"). In most cases, this is what these practitioners wish to do spontaneously and naturally.
The Tsa Lung practice is one of these teachings considered sacred and, thus, secret and so cannot be described here in detail. After completing the repetitions of the practice of Ngondrö (100,000 repetitions of 5 sections), this next step consists of working with the breath and the positive and negative channels contained within one's body. It is important to note these practices consist of yogic exercises which can be very strenuous. One should have good physical condition to undertake this course.
The prerequisite for admittance to this retreat are:
1) Completion of Ngondrö accumulations (100,000 repetitions each of each outer and inner preliminary practice)
2) Permission resulting from an interview with His Holiness or Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso
and
3) Ability to participate in the whole month-long retreat.
There have been cases in which those wishing to participate Tsa Lung have been permitted to attend the first two weeks and then, the following year, the subsequent two weeks. However, it is best for accomplishment to attend all four weeks in one retreat.
As mentioned, retreatants should be prepared to participate in strenuous physical activity. The traditional signs of accomplishment, the generation of inner heat, will be measured. As with any subsequent step in the "Liberation in the Palm of the Hand" cycle, retreatants should be prepared in the event that His Holiness requests them to repeat Ngondrö teachings and accumulations. This should not be viewed as a failure, but as a great blessing that a qualified master has given you such advice. If this situation were to occur, it would be part of the retreat experience, and so cannot be predicted in advance of the retreat. If you have any misgivings about taking this course with the chance that you could be asked to repeat the first step, you should not apply for this step.
As the foundation of the teachings of the Buddha Dharma, the retreat course begins with the preliminary practices, Ngondrö,which focus on the purification of the Outer Doors (Body and Speech).
Ngondrö consists of contemplation, insight, purification, offering and devotion practices. His Holiness will offer Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows, Vajrasattva and Guru Rinpoche empowerments ("wang"), fully qualifying retreatants to undertake Ngondrö practice. Either His Holiness or Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso will offer the transmission or "lung" of the actual practice text. You will have the opportunity to receive clear explanations into the details of actually engaging in the practice ("tri"). You will also have the chance to engage in the actual practices with His Holiness, with Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso and with the sangha of monks on many occasions. The average class size is about 50 students, making this an unparalled opportunity for close instruction from the masters themselves.
Average Yearly Schedule
Subject to change without notice:
First week: The Four Thoughts
Three Days: Refuge Vows and Practice
Three Days: Bodhisattva Vows and Compassion Practice
Three Days: Mandala Offering
Three Days: Vajrasattva Purification Practice
Three Days: Guru Yoga
Last week: Phowa, the practice of the transference of consciousness
Tögyal is a Dzogchen practice through which, via the posture and the gaze, one works directly with the light inherent in all phenomena using specific practices to reveal it within him or herself.
The First Year focuses on the Foundational practice, followed in the Fourth Year class by the main practice. One must have thoroughly completed the Foundational practice to attend the Fourth Year. Moreover, the retreat center requires attendance of the Ngondro and Tsa Lung retreats to attend even the Foundational Third Year. It is preferred that those who have attended First and Second Year retreats (Ngondro and Tsa Lung) complete their Ngondro accumulations prior to attending Togyal, if possible, or carry through the committment to complete these accumulations within this lifetime.
Retreatants who have completed Ngondro and Tsa Lung in South India will be required to have an interview with Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche and receive written approval from Palyul Ling Administration prior to being permitted to attend the Third Year. Others with special qualifications also must obtain an interview and receive written permission from the Palyul Administration.
Both this practice and the subsequent step, Trekchö, are indispensable for a deep understanding of what occurs in the between states that arise after death. These two practices can only be achieved through receiving the inspiration and blessing from a living master who has realized them.
The complete explanation of these practices is only given from a master to a student when the student has made a wholehearted commitment to the teachings and has manifested a level of realization at which point these teachings are appropriate. With the practice of Trekchö, one cuts through delusion with diamond-like thoroughness.
The Seventh Year will include personal instruction by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. It is likely this will include two meetings with His Holiness during the course of the retreat with direct guidance the retreatant should take for their practice after this examination. This may include the Purification of the Five Senses or His Holienss may determine to lead the practitioner into the actual practical transmission union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. At this point, the instructions the individual needs are received from through examination and personal instruction.
Through this thorough process, retreatants have the chance to become naturally self-realizing. At death, practitioners with realization manifest as clear light filling the pristine sky while their bodies transform into a rainbow, a phenomenon known as "Jalu," or achieving the rainbow body. Thus the significance of practicing the non-dual Mahamudra and Dzogchen has helped hundreds of thousands of beings attain the state of enlightenment.
To these days the transmission and lineage still exist unbroken in Palyul tradition and thus this is a tremendous opportunity to learn these practices.