Parting the Clouds: the Practice of Ngöndr
o on the Path of DzogchenParting the Clouds: the Practice of Ngöndr
o on the Path of Dzogchen
During this two-day te aching and practice workshop\, we will explore the place of the ngöndro — the ‘preliminary practices ’ — in the tradition of the Great Perfection (tib Dzogchen)\, which guides Ripga’s entire approach t o the path to enlightenment .
The Dzogchen teac hings bring the awakened state right into this ver y moment\, and into every aspect of the spiritual path\, right from the start. Its core message is t hat no matter how we feel - happy\, sad\, confused or clear\, our true nature is always with us\, al ways perfect and unstained. When searching for hap piness\, we are truly looking for this vast\, open purity.
To convey what our true nature is like\ , Dzogchen often uses the evocative metaphor of a spacious\, perfect blue sky untouched by the heavy clouds of our ordinary\, dualistic mind. Yet\, be cause our confused mind creates a thick cloud cove r\, most of us cannot jump straight into the deepe st practices\; from our perspective\, it is hard t o believe the sky is still there.
This is why we approach this path in gradual stages\, and begin with the ngöndro. By working with our everyday dua listic habits\, thoughts\, and emotions\, the ngön dro practices make the cloud cover less dense so t he sky of our true nature can reveal itself.
To
pics we will cover during this workshop:
We will especiall y explore Bodhicitta\, which is one of the key ele ments of the ngöndro\, and the heart of our path. On Sunday morning there will be an opportunity to take the Bodhisattva vow— a sacred pledge to becom e a bodhisattva\, and strive for the ultimate libe ration and perfect enlightenment of all sentient b eings.
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🗓️ Saturday 28 November: 9:00am-5:00pm\; Su
nday 29 November: 8:00am-4:30pm (Australian Easter
n Daylight Time)
📍 Online and<
span style="font-family:Arial\;font-size:18px\;">
Rigpa Melbourne\, 803A Nicholson Street
\, Carlton North
Free for those attending Jan's monthly Ngondro sessions.
Free for Home Retreatants w ho wish to attend only the Sunday morning Bodhisat tva vow.
If you're a Home Retreatant who would like to attend the full weeke nd\, please pay full or concession price.
About Jan van der Breggen
Jan is a teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and a scholar o f Buddhist philosophy. He began the path of medita tion at 17 years old\, touched by the tenderness o f the human experience and filled with questions a bout what reality was all about. He soon encounter ed the writings of great masters from various trad itions such as J. Krishnamurti\, Suzuki Roshi\, Th ich Nhat Hanh and Sogyal Rinpoche. Thirty years la ter\, Jan continues to be moved by the vast profun dity of the Buddhist path and its vision of the in herent wisdom\, loving kindness and strength that lies in the minds of each and everyone of us.
Jan was honoured to be entrusted by Khenc
hen Namdrol Rinpoche and Mindroling Jetsün Khandro
Rinpoche as one of the twenty-five worldwide Rigp
a Senior teachers. In 2017\, he was selected to be
a participant in the Milinda program\, a 10-year\
, international Buddhist teacher training program
under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.<
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Jan grew up in the Netherlands wher e he earned a Masters Degree in Historical Anthrop ology. He is fluent in English and Dutch. He lives in Brisbane where he works as a data analytics pr ofessional. Jan was instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999\, where he has served as a Dharm a instructor for over 20 years.
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DESCRIPTION:Parting the Clouds: the Practice of Ngöndro on the Path of Dzogchen\n \n During this two-day teachin g and practice workshop\, we will explore the plac e of the ngöndro — the ‘preliminary practices’ — i n the tradition of the Great Perfection (tib Dzogc hen)\, which guides Ripga’s entire approach to the path to enlightenment . \n \n The Dzogchen teachi ngs bring the awakened state right into this very moment\, and into every aspect of the spiritual pa th\, right from the start. Its core message is tha t no matter how we feel - happy\, sad\, confused o r clear\, our true nature is always with us\, alwa ys perfect and unstained. When searching for happi ness\, we are truly looking for this vast\, open p urity.\n \n To convey what our true nature is like \, Dzogchen often uses the evocative metaphor of a spacious\, perfect blue sky untouched by the heav y clouds of our ordinary\, dualistic mind. Yet\, b ecause our confused mind creates a thick cloud cov er\, most of us cannot jump straight into the deep est practices\; from our perspective\, it is hard to believe the sky is still there.\n \n This is wh y we approach this path in gradual stages\, and be gin with the ngöndro. By working with our everyday dualistic habits\, thoughts\, and emotions\, the ngöndro practices make the cloud cover less dense so the sky of our true nature can reveal itself. \ n \n Topics we will cover during this workshop:\n \n What is ngöndro and how do we practice it in Ri gpa?How does each element of the ngöndro express t he awakened state?Ngöndro as preliminary and ngönd ro as the essence of the main practiceWe will espe cially explore Bodhicitta\, which is one of the ke y elements of the ngöndro\, and the heart of our p ath. On Sunday morning there will be an opportunit y to take the Bodhisattva vow— a sacred pledge to become a bodhisattva\, and strive for the ultimate liberation and perfect enlightenment of all senti ent beings.\n \n \n \n \n \n 🗓️ Saturday 28 Novemb er: 9:00am-5:00pm\; Sunday 29 November: 8:00am-4:3 0pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)\n 📍 Online and Rigpa Melbourne\, 803A Nicholson Street\, Carl ton North \n \n Free for those attending Jan's mon thly Ngondro sessions.\n \n Free for Home Retreata nts who wish to attend only the Sunday morning Bod hisattva vow.\n \n If you're a Home Retreatant who would like to attend the full weekend\, please pa y full or concession price.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About Jan van der Breggen\n \n Jan is a teacher i n the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and a scholar of Buddhist philosophy. He began the path of meditati on at 17 years old\, touched by the tenderness of the human experience and filled with questions abo ut what reality was all about. He soon encountered the writings of great masters from various tradit ions such as J. Krishnamurti\, Suzuki Roshi\, Thic h Nhat Hanh and Sogyal Rinpoche. Thirty years late r\, Jan continues to be moved by the vast profundi ty of the Buddhist path and its vision of the inhe rent wisdom\, loving kindness and strength that li es in the minds of each and everyone of us.\n \n J an was honoured to be entrusted by Khenchen Namdro l Rinpoche and Mindroling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche as one of the twenty-five worldwide Rigpa Senior t eachers. In 2017\, he was selected to be a partici pant in the Milinda program\, a 10-year\, internat ional Buddhist teacher training program under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.\n \n \n Ja n grew up in the Netherlands where he earned a Mas ters Degree in Historical Anthropology. He is flue nt in English and Dutch. He lives in Brisbane wher e he works as a data analytics professional. Jan w as instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999 \, where he has served as a Dharma instructor for over 20 years.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n CATEGORIES:Seminar - Ngondro CALSCALE:GREGORIAN DTSTAMP;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261128T090000 DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261128T090000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261129T163000 LOCATION:803 Nicholson St\n Carlton North\, VIC 3054\n Aust ralia\n URL:https://registration.rigpa.org.au/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1416 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR