Dzogchen Cycles of the Vast Expanse – Overview 2020-2021
A comprehensive practice and transmission cycle
Second Three Year Segment Opens May 2020
First three year segment launched in May 2017 with prequels in Winter-Spring 2017
The white conch is a symbol of our lineage masters Adzom Drukpa and Gyurme Thupten Gyatso, is a powerful expression of the Dzogchen path. The conch holds a spiral of increasingly subtle spaces.
Likewise, practitioners cycle through sequenced areas of training, all of them back-lit by Dzogchen, just as all the nautilus’ spaces are already part of the conch in which they arise.
This is a program of natural awakening, a journey from seeing to being. “Natural” means that we begin with gestures we already know—using our senses, curiosity and imagination to move from ordinary seeing to recognition of our innermost being. This is a gradual immersion, easy to assimilate, in the wonders of Tibet’s most widespread Dzogchen Heart Essence lineages. Ad.zom Rinpoche’s transmissions ground and bless our program, bringing to us with palpable freshness wisdom cultivated by generations of Heart Essence yogis.
Most simply, this unique program is for people wishing to commit to ongoing, daily practice and to regular cycles of personal and group retreats. You will gain or renew familiarity with core Heart Essence teachings that, despite their widespread fame, are rarely taught in the West. You will become well versed in the major practices that Ad.zom Rinpoche has selected for his students’ attention worldwide.
If you like to join our Dzogchen Cycles program, apply here.
Dzogchen Cycles Retreat 1st Year 2020-2021
Yeshe Tsogyal Ngondro Formal Retreat | May 1-6, 2020
This retreat is open to all who have taken any of the 2018 or 2019 Yeshe Tsogyal Teaching retreats. Interested students accepted into Cycles who now take the 2018 course online prior to May can attend the formal retreat. (As a reminder, you must complete the 2018 retreat before taking the 2019 teaching, which includes the Accomplishment practice of Yeshe Tsogyal). Both retreats include essential teachings from AR himself. Once your application to Cycles has been accepted, you will get instructions on how to order this retreat for online viewing.
Ad.zom Paylo Rinpoche Troma Severance | May 8-15, 2020
A direct severing of all self-centered sensibilities that bind us to the wheel of habit patterns, limitations, and obstructions. This practice is part of Rinpoche’s Osel Nyingthig (Luminous Heart Essence) Cycle. Like his other treasures, it is replete with Dzogchen nuance while following the classic form of the widely revered Severance (Cho) practices. Our teaching draws directly from AR’s own oral instructions. We also provide a bridge to these very profound instructions through wisdom teachings and practice exercises that are a portal to them.
Troma/Severance Practice & Reflection Retreat.
Troma/Severance This is your opportunity to revisit and refresh understanding of this profound practice, first taught in our May 2020n retreat, including further familiarity with Jigme Lingpa’s pith instructions.
FREEING WISDOM: From Seeing to Being with Lady Wisdom, Prajnaparamita
An inspired sky-pearl through the blessings and brief words of the incomparable Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, titled by him Sem Nyi Rang Grol (Mind Nature Freeing Itself) and Nyam Nyi Rang Grol (Self-Freeing Sameness) bestowed on Anne Klein (Lama Rigzin Drolma) in Tibet.
Getting There While Being Here
Unique features of Dawn Mountain’s Dzogchen Cycles Training and the Journey from Seeing to Being
LINEAGE: Core texts and practices of the Heart Essence, Vast Expanse and related Heart Essence lineages. Your path through these is expressly designed for Western lay practitioners seeking a training that distinctively threads together the Heart Essence Lineages of Longchen Rabjam, Jigme Lingpa, Adzom Drukpa and Ad.zom Paylo Rinpoche, in sutra, tantra, and Dzogchen.
INTEGRATION: Your training is anchored in tradition as well as in the realities of contemporary lay life. We do not expect you to drink buttered tea and get a yak, but we do wish to help you figure out how your practice relates to your Starbucks and iPad’s. Harvey and Anne teach with keen awareness of issues that arise in bringing the spiritual riches of Tibet into our modern lives in order to foster our genuine growth. This is supported by their long immersion in Tibetan language and culture, and their deep consideration of how to make traditional material useful and effective for our times.
RELEVANCE: Beginners find a gentle introduction to the occasionally overwhelming riches of the Tibetan path. Experienced students gain well-choreographed training in Heart Essence pathways. Everyone accepted into the program receives personal support and guidance as appropriate through the sutra, tantric, and Dzogchen trainings of this lineage. For students new to Dzogchen and little prior experience, we may make recommendations to study specific pieces of our first three year program to get you up to speed.
TEACHERS: Lama Rogzin Drolma, Anne and Lama Namgyal Dorje, Harvey each have over five decades of participation and leadership roles in Western Buddhist communities, including serving as personal translators. Since 1970 alongside their Buddhist training and practice with Nyingma, Geluk, Bon, and Theravada teachers, they have also followed developments in mind science, religious studies, and psychotherapy. The result of their deep knowledge, skills, and experiences is Dawn Mountain’s Dzogchen Cycles program. Anne and Harvey founded Dawn Mountain in 1996 and have been teaching since then with the blessing of their teachers, integrating their lifelong learning into a teaching style that is direct, personal, traditional and fresh. In 2010 they each formally received from their heart teacher the title of Dorje Lopon (Vajra Teacher).