The study group meets the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, excluding holidays, planned programs, and practices. We will be reading and studying The Precious Vase, along with supporting materials, and doing the SMS Base practices.
Santi Maha Sangha Base Level Text: The Precious Vase
The Stairway to Liberation - Instructions on Ngondrohttp://shangshung.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=74_75&products_id=576The first section of this book contains seven statements of subjects similar to the ones already mentioned (impermanence, karma, etc.) in which the mind should be trained. It then explains three methods that lead the practitioner to experience the state of mind, which is called "the wisdom beyond any concept." The three methods are:
1. through the union of pleasurable feeling and emptiness
2. through the union of clarity and emptiness
3. through leaving the mind in its own natural state, being present in every thought that occurs.
MP3 Santi Maha Sangha Base Level practices, chanted by Adriano Clemente
Content:
- Purification of the Elements
- The Four Awarenesses
- Refuge and Bodhichitta
- Gyabdroni (Refuge)
- Semgyedni A (Bodhichitta)
- Semgyedni B (Bodhichitta)
- Semgyedni C (Bodhichitta)
- Semgyedni D (Bodhichitta)
- Semgyedni E (Bodhichitta)
- Semgyedni F (Bodhichitta)
- The Four Immeasurables
- Dedication and Invocation
- Mantra for Authenticating the Dedication and Invocation
Teachings on Lojongs Rushens and Semdzins
Concise instructions on the seven Semdzins, the practice of various Rushens including the fundamental Khorde Rushen and the seven Lojongs. Based on the instructions of Adzam Drugpa. This volume is essential for all practitioners.
Shine and Lhagthong in the Dzogchen Teaching
The Dzogchen Semde series explains the methods for understanding and applying the nonduality of Shine and Lhagthong. Realization is none other than the integration of such a state into daily life.The text is divided into three parts related to the three aspects of the path: view, meditation, and behavior.The first part is composed of passages that explains how Shine and Lhagthong are presented in the Dzogchen Teaching, providing appropriate references to the system of the four contemplations of Dzogchen Semde. The Dzogchen view will be compared with that of Sutra and Tantra.The second part consists of instructions related in particular to the practice of meditation written in the sixteenth century by Sogdogpa Lodro Gyaltsen, dating back to Vairochana, known as the Nyang system.Part Three offers the Master's instructions concerning the integration of Shine and Lhagthong in behavior through the continued application of presence and awareness in every moment of daily life.
The Three Paths Of Liberation
The Three Paths of Liberation is a straightforward guide to the understanding of the essence of all paths, Buddhist or not, leading to spiritual realization. The book explains that all paths can be described as three main methods, no matter what tradition is being considered. Those three paths, in an approach which is part of Dzogchen knowledge found in a teaching called the tharlam desum, are that of renunciation, transformation, and self liberation. We can recognize that in Buddhist terminology the path of renunciation is Sutra, that of transformation, Tantra, and that of self liberation, Dzogchen.
Once released from an ironclad identification with a particular school or current of dharma born from a limited point of view, we become free to take Rinpoche's advice: "We can apply all three paths of liberation, and a practitioner of Dzogchen who understands the essence of the teaching always integrates all three. I will try to communicate and explain these paths so you can have a clear idea of them and will find no conflict between Sutra and Tantra, or among different schools and traditions."
Teachings of Thun and Ganapuja
A compilation of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu's oral and written instructions on the Short, Medium, and Long Thuns and the Simple, Short, Medium, and Long Ganapuja practices performed in the Dzogchen Community. The related practice texts can be found in The Book of the Thun and the Ganapuja
Collective Practices for For Special days
Includes the following practices done collectively in the Dzogchen Community: Universal Wisdom Union Long Life Practice, Union of Primordial Essences Long Life Practice, Cycle of Life's Vajra Long Life Practice, Guruyoga with the White A, Yoga of the Peaceful and Wrathful Manifestations (Shitro), and Purification of the Six Lokas. Short explanations included.
