Dharma Online: Tergar Meditation Community Announces “Live, Die, and Beyond” Retreat with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

The Tergar Meditation Community, founded by revered Dharma teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, announced that Mingyur Rinpoche will lead an online retreat March 15-17 on the theme “Living, Dying , and beyond: the wisdom of Mahamudra for the Bardo States.

“In Vajrayana Buddhism, the different stages or transitions of life and death are considered powerful opportune moments for awakening. These stages, called “intermediate states” or bardspresents a unique opportunity to discover the heart of enlightenment in the present moment,” Tergar said in an announcement shared with BDG.

" In bard practices, learning to die consciously teaches us to live consciously. Most importantly, when we begin to see how we experience a little death throughout each moment of our lives, the distinction between the concepts of life and death begins to dissolve, and we can reconnect with who we truly are within. simply relying on our own awareness, which is the essence of Mahamudra – the deep lineage of teachings on how to discover the Buddha within our own minds.

The three-day program aims to help participants better understand the practice of mindfulness throughout life and until the moment of death, with the opportunity to receive bard teachings concerning the Mahamudra of Mingyur Rinpoche himself.

The retreat includes an introduction to the teachings of Mahamudra and some of its practices, and how they can be applied in daily life, as well as teachings on the interconnectedness of life and death. Sessions spread over three days will include live teachings, practice sessions and Q&As with Mingyur Rinpoche, as well as group meditations, teaching sessions with Lama Trinley, resident teacher at the Tergar Mingjue Phoenix Center, and questions and answers with Tergar guides.

“Living, Dying and Beyond: Mahamudra Wisdom for the Bardo States” is open to all. Teaching will include live interpretation in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Click here for full details and to register

Mingyur Rinpoche, founder of the Tergar Meditation Community, which has centers and practice groups around the world, is a renowned teacher and best-selling author whose books include: The joy of living: discovering the secret and the science of happiness (2007); Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom (2009); And Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Fundamental Practices of Tibetan Buddhism (2014)

Born in 1975 in the Himalayan border region between Tibet and Nepal, Mingyur Rinpoche received extensive training in the meditative and philosophical traditions of Tibetan Buddhism from his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920-1996), considered one of the greatest modern masters of Dzogchen, then at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India. After only two years, at the age of 13, Mingyur Rinpoche entered a three-year meditation retreat, then completed a second one immediately after, as a retreat master. At 23, Rinpoche received full monastic ordination.

Mingyur Rinpoche undertook a solitary four-year wandering retreat through the Himalayas from 2011 to 2015. Recounting how he came to terms with the realities of his ambition to practice as a wandering yogi, Rinpoche revealed that he faced many personal and spiritual challenges, including, at one point, his own mortality. Rinpoche described the years he spent wandering the Himalayas as "one of the best times of my life".*

You are already perfect. You are already a Buddha. In fact, there is no difference between your true nature, right now, as you read this, and the true nature of the Buddha, or any enlightened being for that matter. This is the view of Dzogchen, a Tibetan word meaning “Great Perfection.” Dzogchen is more valuable than all other practices of the Nyingma school of Vajrayana Buddhism because it helps us connect directly with our own enlightened nature. — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

* Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche returns from a four-year wilderness retreat (BDG) and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche posts a video offering insight into his retreat (BDG)