Spring at Tashi Choling

Dear Friends,

We hope everyone is having a lovely spring as we are here at Tashi Choling.

We are posting the photo of the completed Dudjom Lingpa statue that Lama Sonam Tsering has made for the Tashi Choling shrine room. It is exquisite and will be a central figure on the main shrine. Since LoB translates the terma revelations of this great master we thought it would be interesting for all of you to see what he apparently looked like. He was a yogi of the order of the white clad tantrikas and it is assumed that most of his followers were as well. Nervetheless the monastics are also devout practitioners of the Dudjom Tersar as well as Dudjom Lingpas profound terma revelations.

Lama Chonam and I had a very meaningful trip to New York where we taught and gave the refuge and bodhisattva vows to a group of students that have been studying under John Baker, Derek Kolleeny and other meditation teachers in the group. Folks were very interested in our work and we feel that the importance of supporting and participating in the process of translation is becoming an interesting and pertinent issue to more and more dharma practitioners.

Now that we are back we must work hard to prepare the rough draft translation to have before us during the up and coming teachings with Khen Rinpoche Namdrol. This will be the fourth year of the teachings that Khen Rinpoche is giving on the Treasury of the Genuine Meaning and this year he will teach only the eighth chapter which is rather long and pithy. This teaching will last for two weeks as usual. Unfortunately it is not open to the public, but that does not mean you cannot supplicate Khen Rinpoche to teach this or other important transmissions again in the future.

During the teaching we will hook up in person with our other translators and begin plans for the next group translation. Stay tuned for a preview of what that might be. Also it is anticipated that our translations of the longest commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra composed by Omniscient Longchenpa entitled Dispelling Darkness Throughout the Ten Directions will be available for purchase through Snow Lion publications in just a matter of weeks. Please be sure to get this book as it is full of the most profound instructions found in Vajrayana.

We will post again after returning home from the teaching. We wanted to also let you know that we now have a presence on Facebook and are trying to learn how to be active on that platform. You can go in through the link for Nanci Gustafson-Sangye Khandro or just go straight to Light of Berotsana's own page and become our friend. We will be posting on the LOB site and not so much on mine as that is merely a means to be able to open the LOB site. It has been fun to see many of you on the page already.

All our best wishes,
Sangye Khandro and Lama Chonam

Greetings from Tashi Choling

Lama Chonam and I arrived back home at Tashi Choling about ten days ago and found that spring is just emerging from the earth; plants and trees in the form of green grass, sprouts and buds and the skies are majestically changing patterns and going through stages of transformation. It is a very beautiful and dynamic time here. What a wonderful land this is and the blessings of the dharma practice and the great masters are very apparent.

A day or two after arriving we began the annual Troma Nagmo retreat that is held here, lead by myself and the group of seasoned practitioners who support this completely through their devotion and joy. Each year new practitioners join us and this year it was particularly tight as a strong group and a powerful practice. We do the intermediate sadhana throughout the day combined with the four feasts and we also hold an early morning session for Troma ngundro and prostrations. This time we also included a guru yoga sadhana for accomplishing Dudjom Lingpa that Light of Berotsana translated prior to this retreat. This sadhana was practiced each day as a way to consecrate the amazingly beautiful statue of Dudjom Lingpa that the master artist Sonam Tsering is just finishing up in the shrine room here. We all agree that this is the most delicate and shockingly beautiful statue of the the great Dzogchen master that has ever been seen. As each day passed the colors and presence of the statue increased and we all felt the blessing of the guru entering not only the statue but the shrine and everyone involved. Each day we offered a bountiful ganachakra in the evenings and also practice the kilaya sadhana for the extension of Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche's life. One thousand kilaya mnatras were accumulated daily by everyone present. On the final two days of the retreat a large group of vultures and also ravens arrived to spend time close to the temple. This is also a sacred sign for this land as each year when Troma is practiced here in retreat these birds suddenly appear whereas they are not seen otherwise.

Now Lama Chonam and I are settling in here and getting our son Sangye Tendar set up for home schooling and a few classes in town. We are hoping the local sangha members will help us to support Tendar in his western education as we continue to teach him dharma, Tibetan language reading and writing and speaking. We are beginning preparations for the fourth year of teachings on the Tsig Don Rinpoche Dzod that are about to commence with Khen Rinpoche Namdrol on June 3rd-18th. Lama Chonam and I, along with the shedra students assistance, will make our rough draft translation of the teachings that also includes many quotes from the Dzogchen tantras. We are told by Sidney Piburn of Snow Lion publications that the the great commentary to the Guhyagarbha Tantra written by Lonchenpa that we have worked on for the last ten years, "Dispelling Darkness Throughout the Ten Directions", will be published in time for Khen Rinpoche's arrival in America again. We are extremely excited about this and look forward to all of you being able to read this masterpiece. We will keep in touch and in the meantime hope that all of you have a wonderful spring experience wherever you are. Thanks again for you continued support and friendship. May all beings benefit through our combined efforts!

Sangye Khandro and Lama Chonam

Fall greetings!

Warmest fall greetings to our friends and colleagues. Fall has brought changes and also completion for Lama Chonam and I as we have been able to practically complete two of the main translation projects that we have been consumed by for many years. One is the Epic of Gesar of Ling which we began working on with Robin Kornman in the fall of 1995. Hence this project has spanned nearly two decades to reach completion. The manuscript is now with Shambhala Publishing and we will look for this great Epic to appear in book form in August of next year.

The other project is the translation of Longchenpa's masterful commentary to the Guyagharbha Tantra entitled The Thorough Dispelling of Darkness Throughout the Ten Directions. This book includes a full translation of the root tantra followed by the word- by word commentary with the root words embedded and bolded within it. Extensive end notes are included. Lama Chonam and I have been working on this project for the last eight years. During the first four years we received the entire oral commentary from Khen Rinpoche Namdrol and offered the oral translation of this teaching simultaneously to a large gathering of vajrayana disciples. Following the completion of the teachings we were then able to work on the translation of Longchenpa's commentary and consult with Khen Rinpoche particularly one year by traveling to Parping Nepal for that purpose. For the last year we have devoted all of our time to this effort and now with the amazing assistance of our skillful editor and devoted vajra sister Kay Henry have finally sent the manuscript to Snow Lion publications. It is expected to be available in book form sometime this spring.

Words cannot describe to you how it feels to finally have reached this stage with these two lifetime endeavors. Many of you may know that the other two commentaries to the GG tantra, one written by Dodrubchen Tenpai Nyima called Key to the Precious Treasury and the other by Ju Mipham Rinpoche entitled Essence of Clear Light are already published and available through the restricted book section in the Snow Lion catalog. We hope you will take the time to order them and begin the important process of studying their crucial and pithy content.

These translations represent the authentic texts that are studied by our own masters and the information that allows a vajrayana aspirant the opportunity to understand how to appreciate and actually practice this profound path. They are not written to be an easy read or for entertainment nor will they be books that you can just sit down and pour through. With the root tantra coming out in English this will be invaluable for the study of all three commentaries each of which has it's own particular emphasis and benefits.


As for our translation plans to follow, many of you may know that we had published several translations of Heruka Dudjom Lingpa's Chod teachings corresponding to Dakini Troma Nagmo. These books are now out of print and so we will rework the translations and in the case of one of them, Sole Essence of Clear Light, we will include additional liturgies and commentary that are crucial to the six month Troma togal retreat practice. Hence the completed book will include everything that a practitioner should need to engage in that retreat. These books will be published by our own Kama-Terma publishing through the kindness and sponsorship of our dear vajra brother David Bolduc of the Boulder Book store. Stay tuned for more updates as to the timing of these translations.

In the immediate future we plan to attend the Rinchen Terdzod Empowerments in Alameda scheduled to begin on December 1st of this year. I will offer the oral translation to start out but it is our hope that the illustrious Shashikala Reitz will be able to take over and carry the load as they say for the duration of the empowerments. It is important training for Shashi and besides that she will do an awesome job.

That is the update for now. I would like to close by expressing our deepest gratitude to our generous sponsors and volunteers who allow us the dignity to continue serving the dharma and all of you by devoting all of our time to the translations. We can never thank you enough for your what you are doing. Please join us on this blog as we would welcome any feedback or communications that have to do with these projects or any other thoughts you all may have,

Warmly,
in the dharma,
Sangye Khandro