Thank you for the wonderful information. I will pass it along. My friend has never been involved in any group other than anthroposophy 40 years ago - and iwll keep her eyes open for guru worship tendencies. So, it is good to get some insight into the validity of the teachings of this path. Thanks again. BTW, a few weeks ago he gave some instructions via the internet - a webcast - of meditation invoking the feminine aspect of the divine. I hear it was very powerful. About 350 people tuned in worldwide (hard to get connected, so many others tried). He intends to do more. His retreats are now sold out well in advance. People are interested.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Oct 17, 2008, at 5:25 PM, wayback71 wrote: > > > Vaj or anyone, > > > > a friend of mine has attended some weekend workshops with Rinpoche > > Tenzin Wangyal. He > > is from the Bon tradition, which as you probably know is the pre > > Buddhist, indigenous > > religion of Tibet. They do consider the Dalai Lama as one of their > > Masters and I believe the > > Dalai Lama now considers them a fifth branch of Tibetan Buddhism. > > > > My friend really likes the meditation practice. Do you have any > > more insight in to this style of > > practice or the group? > > > With a group of friends we picked up Tenzin at the Washington airport > the day he first arrived in the US. > > It was an interesting time and place. He: young and still somewhat > haughty, "waiting-to-be-a-geshe" (geshe is like a post doc guru > experiential and academic degree). He'd just finished his first 49 day > "dark retreat" (inner cave-yoga type retreat) a couple of years > before--and the first to talk about it openly and freely to > westerners. We all spent a weekend together rapping and, as an > attorney friend had obtained a copy of the Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud (The > Oral Transmissions of the Kingdom Zhang Zhung) that was in the Library > of Congress (!), we all hunkered down and grooved on the two all > weekend. Us: the group of first Dzogchen practitioners in the west. We > all blabbed together while he transmitted the atypicaly book-bound > text from the LOC. It's very, very old--truly Vedic (it contains > probably the oldest existing yogic texts known). But these guys were > still (even after the Tibetan diaspora) keeping it real and alive. > > It was a good time. A lot of very personal questions got answered that > weekend. He was still a somewhat rough lad then (rather haughty when I > would challenge him on experiential meanings). But I've followed his > career with great interest since: his collaboration with translator/ > yogini Anne Klein of Rice University, his numerous written works and > the works of his root teacher, Lopon Tenzin Namdhak I've followed > closely -- they've both been of immense benefit to me. I do understand > he recently married and I was so happy to hear of it. Most Hindu yoga > followers will find it unusual that a yogi or guru would marry, but > it's really common in both the Tibetan tradition (they call themselves > the "red tradition" rather than the "white tradition") and the pre- > Vedic tantric traditions to go with what works for the individual > realizer (rather than be 'condemned' to celibacy). > > We were amazed to find out the Bonpos not only understood the Kashmir > Shaivite traditions, but they considered them younger than their own > tradition and knew which 'pieces' the Shaivites had borrowed! (After > all, the Kingdom of Zhang Zhung was the area around Mt. Kailash, the > home of Shiva and the mountain-wife Parvati). > > So I'd recommend him as long as he doesn't get too haughty and guru-y; > it's important to remember he's just a person and not some > unapproachable figure. And his teacher the Lopon Namdak is superb. > Last I heard he was to go into extended retreat and then only teach > occasionally in France. There are other members of their line in > circulation and surely, given the open-mindedness of the Bonpos, I > know they'd also recommend that students not get stuck being attached > to one person or teacher. It's good to get perspective, so I'd > recommend she also receive other teachings from other gurus coming > from Dolanji (the Bonpo monastery) when they come around. > > Good stuff! Good luck. >
