 Dearest Friends @ CAS
of Thousand-Arm Chenrezig !!
Great
Rejoicings to the excellent-successes of the blessed programmes
with the Great Terton, Ganor Rinpoche !!
The
auditorium overflows daily with humans...... and even the gods
are so cramped, mighty and patient, for blessings from
the Emissary of Guru Padmasambhava !!
It coudln't have happened without all our friends' solid support..... to you all, our SOLID "Thank You !!" 
bb & all beings @ CAS belonging to Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa ( !!
) ++++++++++++
Drikung Ontrul Rinpoche
We are
sending you two important retreats with the great Drikung Ontrul
Rinpoche.
Ontrul
Rinpoche is recognized by the late 16th Gyalwa Karmapa as
the emanation of one of the 25 Heart Disciples of Guru Padmasambhava.
His
Holiness the Dalai Lama remarked, "My friend, Drikung Ontrul Rinpoche,
gets tears in his eyes when he talks about Dzogchen. This is due
to his great Bodhicitta."
Before
leaving Singapore, the Great Terton exhorted all students to learn
as much as possible from Drikung Ontrul Rinpoche as Ontrul Rinpoche
is such a genuine and realized Master, so rare and precious in
our present age.
++++++++++++
Details of Ontrul Rinpoche's retreat-programmes
in Singapore are given in
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Programme in gist
Phowa Retreat
25 May - 7:30 pm - Great Empowerment of Buddha
Amitabha **
25 and 26 May - 8 am to 10 pm ( Full Day )
27 May - 8 am to 5 pm ( Almost Full Day )
Mahamudra Retreat
1 and 2 June - 8 am to 10 pm ( Full Day )
3 June - 8 am to 5 pm ( Almost Full Day )
( ** Course fees are not applicable for
the two empowerments )
++++++++++++
Essential
Practices for All
THESE
TWO PROGRAMMES ARE DECIDED UPON DETAILED CONSULTATION WITH
ONTRUL RINPOCHE HIMSELF.
THEY
ARE ALSO DECIDED UPON AS THEY ARE POWERFUL
AND ESSENTIAL COMPLEMENTARY PRACTICES TO ANY OF THE
PRACTICES THE STUDENTS ARE CURRENTLY ENGAGED IN, HENCE, NO ADDITIONAL
"BURDEN" OF PRACTICE-COMMITMENT
ANY
STUDENT OF THE DHARMA SHOULD BENEFIT GREATLY FROM HAVING
LEARNT AND PRACTISED THEM FROM AND WITH A GEUINELY REALIZED
MASTER AS ONTRUL RINPOCHE.
++++++++++++
Important Note
The deadline for the programme is on 17
May 2007, twelve mid-night.
The hostel offers a range of accomodation
facilities, the allocation of which, on a first-come-first-
The accomodations are reasonably comfortable
and air-conditioned, food and amenities are fit for modern
day yogis and yoginis.
At the moment, several groups including
other exciting religious groups are also vying for the places.
Our Friends will need to register fast
to get a place !!
++++++++++++
Retreat Costs
The costs
to be paid by the students are mainly to off-set their
own stay-in costs and rental costs of the auditorium.
Ontrul Rinpoche has indicated
that He prefers a retreat venue with stay-in facilities.
Hence, Katong Hostel, which
is comparatively affordable to most of us, with a friendly and
supportive management.
All
Net Proceeds ( if any !! ) will be offered to Drikung Ontrul
Rinpoche and if the net amount exceeds ten thousand sing
dollars, plus, minus, ( which is unlikely ), the remaining sum will
be channlled into
CAS's
myriad ( "life-saving" !! ) projects, so important to our
Tibetan retreat monks and all in India.
++++++++++++
The Retreat Package
( A )
Dormitory Style Accomodation - S$200/-
( per person - 2 nights )
[ Inclusive of course fees ]
( B )
4 Person Room Accomodation - S$300/-
( per person - 2 nights )
[ Inclusive of course fees ]
( C )
4 Men Apartment with attached bathroom -
S$400/-
( per person - 2 nights )
[ Inclusive of course fees ]
( D )
Students who wish to attend the programme but
not to stay-in, the suggested costs ( to off-set rental of the
auditorium etc ) is
1) S$150/- for all 3 days of the Mahamudra
Retreat &
2) S$150/- for all 3 days of the Phowa
Retreat &
3) S$250/- for all 6 days of both retreats.
____________
All
meals are not included. Food is available in the food centre below
the auditorium.
One meal
costs an average of S$3/-.
Laundry
services is available at S$2/- per bag.
Internet
services is available at S$2/- an hour.
____________
As is CAS's "standard"
spiritual-policy:
No students
will be turned-away from the programme due to financial
concerns.
Just drop
us a line ( !! ).
All Sangha
members are exmpted from all costs of the programme.
____________
Registration for the programme is required. Email
bb at contact@casotac. Send us your : A) Name B) Contact C) Package
Selection
Reservation of retreat-places is
confirmed only upon receipt of the payment
via any of the following routes:
A) Cash - Camden
Education Center ( call 64686835 before coming !! )
Camden Education
Center's address is available at www.camden.edu.
B) Crossed Check
to "Charitable Assistance Society"
[ Posted to 170
Upper Bt Timah Road, Bt Timah Shopping Centre, #B1-27,
S(588179) ]
C) Funds Transfer:
DBS Current Account - 022-900386-5 ( Email to alert upon transfer
)
Payment on very
day of the programme is not possble this time as we need
to pay the deposit for reservation of the accomodation to the
hostel at least 3 weeks before the programme.
++++++++++++
Why Retreat ??
Besides being Ontrul
Rinpoche's holy wish, we have seriously considered the fact that
Singapore has more than her fair share of empowerments, pujas and
blessings but is in sore need of serious retreats and follow-up
teachings cum practices.
Profound practices
have been bestowed over and over again but nothing has been internalized
and the students remain their "hard-core" self, hard with aeons
of all-too-familiar defilements.
YOU
are needed to help nurture the "culture" for serious and
proper practices.
Everyone
-- several Heads we have talked to, the Rinpoches and students
themselves ( !! ) -- is talking about the need for change
to the way Tibetan Buddhist practices are transmitted and practised
here.
Someone will need
to at least TRY to
do something about it.
May this, then, be
a first, little toddle ........!!
Holy Guan Yin
Pu Sa please guide us for the BEST to come of this
.....
"OM TARE TUTTARE
TURE SOHA !!"
++++++++++++
More Notes
Pending approval from Ontrul Rinpoche, we will
be requesting for bestowal of the Secret Empowerment of the Queen
of Great Bliss at 7:30 pm on 1 June 2007.
( Practice-Sadhana of the Queen of Great Bliss
is available to the serious student )
If Rinpoche decides that it will not be beneficial
for bestowal of the Queen of Great Bliss thsi time, the Mahamudra
Retreat will proceed as planned, with possble bestowal of
a secret empowerment related to the great Mahamudra of the Kagyu
School.
This is in conjunction with our hosting of
the entire Longchen Nyingthig Cycle of Empowerments and Teachings
to be completely bestowed right here in Singapore...
++++++++++++
Programme Details
Initiation
of Lord Buddha Amitabha Drikung
Ontrul Rinpoche will be bestowing the precious initiation of
Lord Buddha Amitabha in conjunction with the retreat on the
great Phowa. Phowa Refers
to the transference of consciousness at the time of death to
Dewa Chen, the Pure Land of Lord Buddha Amitabha.
When
one has received any of the signs of the Phowa meditation, then
one is considered to be prepared to enter into the Buddha-field
of Amitabha Buddha (Dewa-chen) at the time of death. It is taught that one does not return to the samsaric realms after having entered Dewa-chen and that one can quickly achieve Enlightenment. Marpa
Lotsawa said, "From now, if you study Phowa, purify, purify
time and time again. Then, at that time, when death is approaching,
you will know no despair. If, beforehand, you have become accustomed
to this Path of Phowa, then at the time of death you will be
full of cheerful confidence." Phowa
of the great Drikung Lamas
The
Drikung Phowa became so powerful and rare that it is traditionally
offered only once every twelve years at Drikung in central
The
fame of this Phowa continued to spread as thousands of participants
would experience the signs of the Phowa during the 'Lung' (Blessing
Transmission) given by a head Lama of Drikung Kagyu.
Due
to the accumulated energy of the lineage and the blessing of
the teaching itself, the qualified Lama is able to directly
transfer the blessings of this practice to the pure and devoted
disciples who can experience the signs very quickly.
We
now have the same opportunity as did the thousands of people
in
We
should all rejoice to have the utmost blessedness to undertake
retreat with one of the seniormost lineage-holder of the Drikung
Kagyu Lineage, Drikung Ontrul Rinpoche. The
Swiftest Path to Liberation Because
of all these, the Phowa is becoming particularly relevant in
these times simply because in today's society we do not have
the time nor the circumstances to walk the spiritual path of
the Dharma as did our predecessors in the past. A
Means to Benefit Others Sufficiently
accomplished practitioners may use this powerful method to benefit
other persons, even animals, who have reached the end of their
present life. Tibetan lay people consider it extremely important
to perform Phowa for the dying and recently deceased. ++++++++++++
The Queen
of Great Bliss (
tentative ) The
Queen of Great Bliss is one of Receiving the empowerment of the Queen of Great Bliss is essential for subsequent practices of the Completion Stages such as the Inner Fire, Vase-Breathing and the like in the Longchen Nyingthig Cycle.
++++++++++++
Mahamudra According
to the 'Liberating-Biograph According
to the Great Terton Ganor Rinpoche, the Dzoghcen and the Mahamudra
are quintessentially one in intent and practice. The
Drikung Kagyu tradition has traditionally been one of the main
lineages to uphold and transmit the Dzogchen and the Mahamudra
as an integral transmission. The
practice of Mahamudra empowers the student into complete realization
of the path and results in Buddhahood in one life. ?¡ãMudra?¡À
refers to all phenomena without exception, everything subsumed
within samsara and nirvana such that no phenomenon, nothing
whatsoever, is omitted or left out. It means the entirety of
everything. "Maha"means
great, the highest. This is the highest and most conclusive
view which realizes all phenomena of samsara and nirvana as
they actually are.. Mahamudra
is also said to be like the seal of a king under which all things
of the kingdom exist. There
is nothing in the kingdom which does not fall under the authority
of the king. So likewise, there is nothing within samsara or
nirvana which does not fall under this Mahamudra. The
essence of Mahamudra is the source of all the Buddhas of the
past, present and future. *
The Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang (
Supreme Head of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage )
++++++++++++
There will be no specific pre-requisites or subsequent commitments to uphold before or after the programmes. Serious
students who wish to practise subsequent to the teaching-transmissi
All
relevant practice texts will be made available to all retreatants
and the serious students. Simultaneous translation into Chinese is available. Students requiring Chinese translation need to be equipped with a FM radio and a headset.
++++++++++++
"It's
working !!"
A sure sign that
our work is benefitting and causing some benevolent impact in
the scene, (1) disgruntled quarters and / from (2) alleged banned
groups related to spirit-cultic worships, have had busy time
shredding posters hosted by CAS, even of great Masters,
so pure and holy.....
We have chosen to
reciprocate with unremitting love and promises to help, this life
and other lives !!
++++++++++++
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