Requirements required to join Year 3 of Moonbeams of Mahamudra Transmission

This transmission is open only for those who have taken Refuge. Non-Buddhists cannot attend this transmission, even if they are regular Mindfulness Practitioners.

Kindly note that just having attended the first two years of Moonbeams at Palpung Institute is not enough to attend the third year.
 

I understand that to receive Nature of Mind Transmission certain requirements are necessary. I hereby honestly confirm that I fulfill AT LEAST one of the following pre-requisites:

REQUIREMENTS

• Having received Joy of Living Teachings 1, 2, 3 AND having completed a minimum of 50 hours of homework for JOL 1 AND  a further 50 hours for JOL 2. There is no need to have completed the 75 hours of homework for JOL 3 .
• Having completed the full Preliminary Practices belonging to one of the Tibetan Buddhist Lineages. (Reflections on Precious Human Life, Impermanence, Karma and Shortcoming of Samsara; 110,000 Refuge and prostrations; 110,000 Vajrasattva recitations; 110,000 Mandala offerings and 110,000 Guru Yoga prayers) .
• Having attended and completed the practices from the Shamatha Transmission given by HE Tai Situpa Rinpoche of the Mahamudra Ocean of Definitive Meaning.
• Being a Buddhist practitioner for at least 5 years, having a regular daily practice of Buddhism and having done a total of 30 days of retreat with at least 6h per days of meditation during each of those days. The 30 days don’t need to have been done at one time (and can be, for example, 3 lots of  10 days over this period).

COMMITMENTS

Commitments for this third year are 100 hours of practice. Rinpoche will give the details of the  practices during the transmission.

Moonbeams of Mahamudra is a detailed explanation of the Mahamudra Meditation process written by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal. This text and the Mahamudra Ocean of Definitive Meaning are the two major Mahamudra Treatise for the Kagyu Lineage.
In Year 1 and 2 Rinpoche transmitted the general teaching on Mahamudra along with the detailed practice of Shamata (calm abiding).
From year 3 onward he will begin the teaching of Vipassana (insight meditation) which is, in the context of Mahamudra, the teaching on the Nature of Mind and Buddha Nature.
Since one cannot receive these deep and sacred instructions without prior meditation experience there are requirements to join the third year.
Since just receiving these pith instructions without practicing them wouldn’t be very beneficial and wouldn’t make us suitable to receive deeper instructions, there are practice commitments required.
Please Note that participating in Year 3 is essential to participating in Year 4 and 5. If you need to cancel your registration (either because of the requirements, or for another reason) please let me know. It will help us to better organise this wonderful event.

Words of my Perfect Teacher is an explanation of the Longchen Nyingtik Foundation Practices written by Patrul Rinpoche. It is the foundation stone of Dzogchen practice. Rinpoche will provide commentary and an explanation of the text along with some guided meditation sessions
Last year Rinpoche completed the common Foundations. This year he will begin with the section  on refuge.

Requirements: The only students who are allowed to register are the following:
1. Students who attended the 3^rd Year of this transmission and are having a regular practice as per Rinpoche’s instructions.
2. Students who attended one of the previous Mahamudra Transmissions by Guru Vajradhara Tai Situ Rinpoche and are continuing regular practice.
3. Students who attended the 2^nd year but due to major obstacles couldn’t attend the 3^rd year.

(Those who are qualitifed of point 2 or point 3, please contact Lama Jampa first for registration: teaching.palpunginstitute@gmail.com)

Practice Commitments: 2h per day

In the first three years, Rinpoche gave the transmissions for the preliminary practices specific to this lineage and started the Shamata Transmissions. During this fourth year he will continue the Shamata transmissions according to the lineage of Mahamudra Ocean of Definitive Meaning.

About the nyungne practice

The fasting practice of Nyungne is a well known profound purification practice.  The meditation centers on the recitations of prayers and mantras, and visualizations of the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig, the embodiment of all the buddhas' loving-kindness and compassion. Translated as 'abiding in the fast', Nyungne is said to be effective in the healing of illness, the nurturing of compassion, and the purification of negative karma.

This transmission is open to all. It is not compulsory to attend the Nyungne Retreat in Sherabling after this transmission.

To participate to a Nyungne one need to have received the Nyungne Practice instructions and empowerment.

About the nyungne practice

The fasting practice of Nyungne is a well known profound purification practice.  The meditation centers on the recitations of prayers and mantras, and visualizations of the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig, the embodiment of all the buddhas' loving-kindness and compassion. Translated as 'abiding in the fast', Nyungne is said to be effective in the healing of illness, the nurturing of compassion, and the purification of negative karma.

One set of Nyungne consists of two days of practice.  The first day is a preliminary day, and the second day is the actual fasting day.

One takes the Mahayana Sojong vows, with a total of 8 precepts, and on the preliminary day, one eats only one meal, with drinks for the entire day. The next day is a complete fast with no meals or drinks, and one must also observe silence.

After this 3 days Transmission in Delhi, we will do 8 sets of Nyungne one after the other.
The retreat will take place in Palpung Sherabling. 
One can choose to do one, two or more of the eight Nyungnes. It is not compulsory to do the 8.
On the 17th day (after the 8 Nyungnes) we will perform a half day Puja
 

The Mahayana Sojong vows are to refrain from:

1. Killing.
2. Stealing or taking that which is not given.
3. Sexual activity.
4. Lying.
5. Intoxicants.
6. Sitting on a high seat.
7. Eating at inappropriate times.
8. Wearing ornaments or perfume and singing or dancing.