In Dzogchen,the Great Completeness tradition of TIbet, wisdom is there from the start. Recognizing this makes a huge difference in our hearts and in our lives. Dzogchen Cycles introduces and furthers our path to our innate wisdom.

We invite you to join Dawn Mountain, on a transformative path of practice, study, and personal growth, especially destined for our era and conditions. 

Starting this May, our annual 2022-2023 Dzogchen Cycles on-line program celebrates a revelation from one of the most illustrious  Dzogchen masters  in Tibet today. These teachings unite the compassion of Avalokieshvara with Dzogchen spaciousness with poetic songs revealed by Adzom Paylo Rinpoche.  

Rinpoche received these teachings during his day-long direct encounter with Avalokiteshvara on Potu Island, off the coast of Shanghai. This mountainous isle has for centuries been revered as the home of  Avalokiteshvara, known in China as Kuan Yin.  

With Rinpoche’s encouragement and blessings, these profound and simple poems from his Lotus Heart Essence cycle of Dzogchen will be taught for the very first time in the West by Dawn Mountain founders Lamas Rigzin Drolma and Namgyal Dorje (Anne C. Klein & Harvey Aronson), who report that  “ Rinpoche revealed that during this encounter he received the entire Dzogchen teachings of Avalokiteshvara. We and  Dawn Mountain are beyond honored and inspired to be sharing them with you all.” 

2022-2023 Retreats-On-line via Zoom

 The Lotus Heart Essence: Avalokiteshvara’s Dzogchen

Monday, May 9th through Sunday, May 15th 

This week-long retreat immerses us in six pithy Dzogchen practice poems  received from Avalokiteshvara. It includes prayers, a way of becoming Avalokiteshvara oneself, odes that liberate through hearing, and pith practices that reveal the inner meaning of Om Mani Padme Hum. All are methods for realizing our own mind nature, all contain quintessential instructions for awakening.

 Lotus Heart Essence: The Very Heart of the Great Compassionate One’s Liberation of All Beings 

Friday September 30th to Sunday October 2nd

This weekend retreat takes us more deeply into the main practice introduced in May, a sadhana that seamlessly unites us with Avalokiteshvara, universal compassion, and the wisdom of Dzogchen.  Rinpoche closes the text by saying “Those who practice this with excellence gain liberation in this life. Those with middling skill find realization and freedom in the Bardo. Others find the supreme pure land. In the end, self and others find liberation.”

Liberation through Hearing the Seven Syllables: A Vast Golden Heart

 Friday February 24 to Sunday February 26, 2023

During Losar, the Tibetan New Year, wholesome activities are said to be amplified a hundred thousand times. The  Dzogchen transmission  of the seven syllables Om Mani Padme Hum are our focus in this retreat. Sounding the syllables with such  understanding yields liberation simply through hearing. Rinpoche  introduces it as “…a method for ending the continuing of bad times while bestowing both ordinary and supreme feats of accomplishment. Practice it and be fortunate.”

These three retreats, augmented through the year with follow-up and peer-support meetings for full Cycles participants, are open to old or new practitioners. If you have not yet participated in our Cycles programs, please use this  link to apply (add URL link) to let us know a bit about your practice background and interest in Cycles. You will hear back as soon as our Lamas have reviewed your application. Click HERE to see the fee schedule. All our retreats are recorded, and Cycles participants  will have lifetime access to review them after the retreats are over, or if your schedule does not allow you to be present for a retreat or part of any retreat.

A couple Dawn Mountain members who have participated in Dzogchen Cycles in previous years made had this comment:

I have been a Dawn Mountain member for more than five years and joined Dawn Mountain with the objective of (finally) starting a daily meditation practice. I was hopeful the Dawn Mountain teaching programs and community (sangha) would help me overcome my internal resistance to practice, stop hiding behind my daily distractions and also overcome my fear of the ritualistic approach of Tibetan Buddhism. Little did I know about Lama Rigzin’s and Lama Namgyal’s approach to teaching through wonderful retreats, personal one on one teaching sessions, the ongoing support through a dedicated partner (Mitra) and the Dawn Mountain sangha that has some of the most advanced practitioners from all around the world. Today I am so fortunate to have a joyful daily practice. I am able to participate in Dawn Mountain retreats. Through Dawn Mountain, I have access to translated ancient and newly revealed Tibetan practice texts and I enjoy the most preciously personal teachings from our Lamas. In addition, I have the on-going support of a global sangha. All of this is priceless.

Albrecht E.