Traditionally intended to request permission and blessings from the earth in order to create auspicious conditions for building on the land and supporting future beneficial dharma activities, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presided over a Land Blessing Ceremony in Colorado on February 1st (2025) and visited Nalandabodhi Colorado the next day.
What is the quality of your mind, right now? That was the question Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen posed at the beginning of a weekend teaching on the topic of Mahāmudrā and Bodhicitta at Milarepa’s Yak Horn, our center in Hong Kong.
Christmas, New Year, all samsaric things like this naturally come. However, to practice Dharma, making a deep connection with our own mind, requires a lot of effort. Rather than turning inward, Lama Rabten Tshering noted that we tend to choose samsara– suffering. Why?
Sangha member Paolo Mazza writes: “The path is sometimes hard and full of obstacles, but we share the same long-term goal. Although we are spread all over the globe, it is comforting to know that there are many others struggling to practice daily and not giving in. This is a great support.”
One of our beloved translators offers her insights in both English and español. “I have no issues with taking refuge in the Buddha, the teacher, the human being who showed us the path to enlightenment . . . nor with taking refuge in the dharma, the Buddha’s teachings,” writes Adela Iglesias. “But the process is not always that straightforward when I try to connect to the sangha.”
This is what most deeply resonates with me when I think about sangha,” Nick Vail writes, “the synthesis of voices, dreams, and activities of individuals in a shared ecosystem.
