I am heading up to Spring Retreat tomorrow. Every year, the Tibetan Meditation Center of Frederick Maryland hosts a 16 day teaching retreat. This year, Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen is headlining the list of presenters, although Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin and Drupon Thinley Ningpo are formidable teachers in their own right (of course).
Due to my swiftly-becoming-tedious-and-yet-I’m-bearing-with-it busy job, I will only be able to attend a few days of the retreat on the weekends. And yes, I might put 1,500 miles on my car in just a couple short weeks… And yes, I am actually looking forward to this! Any time now to spend with precious teachings and precious teachers is something which I will gladly make a significant sacrifice for.
Khenchen is teaching of the Five Fold Path of Mahamudra, which is a topic he rarely covers in English. He typically sticks to the more tried and true Lamrim texts (the basics) or texts / commentaries which he has composed. So this is truly a blessing. I am sincerely hoping I have the karma to be there for these teachings.
Khenpo Tsultrim is an incredibly erudite individual and he has a very sharp mind. So I appreciate he unique insights and valuable perspectives (and not to mention all the wisdom and edifying anecdotes he shares).
And Drupon Thinley Ningpo is my root teacher, my primary heart teacher. So any time I do anything in his presence is a profound blessing. And if he is teaching, then so much the better! He will cover the practice of Guru Yoga.
I will also see friends and spiritual family members. TMC is the place that caught me back in 2006 when I needed a significant shift in my life. It felt like home then and I hope it still does.
There are big changes on my horizon, so it may be a little while before I get back up there again. So that is yet another reason to soak up whatever time I can spend in that blessed mandala.
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 