Kalachakra Ngondro Program | MODULE 8: Innate Kalachakra
ONLINE. This program will be in English. We will not be able to offer live translations in any other language, however, we can offer access to the practice texts in various languages. Please send in your registration at the bottom as soon as you decide to register so that we can plan accordingly.
Later registration and starting are possible because the sessions are recorded.
MODULE 8: Innate Kālachakra
Weekend Webinar: 28th – 30th March
VIENNA TIME (CET)
FRIDAY 28th March
18.30 – 20.00
SATURDAY 29th March
10.00 – 11.30
14.00 – 15:30
18.30 – 20.00
VIENNA TIME (CEST — Summer time from 30th March on)
SUNDAY 30th March
10.00 – 11.30
+ 2 Additional Sessions with Practice (Wednesdays: April 2nd and 9th, 18.30 – 20:00)
+ Homework
+ 1 Group Discussion on Wednesday April 16th (18.30 – 20.00)
DESCRIPTION:
Module 8 — Innate Kālachakra
The previous preliminary practices are common across various Vajrayāna traditions and although they may be practiced slightly differently, the intended result is generally similar. Innate Kālachakra Practice is considered one of the Unique Preliminaries as it is specific to the Jonang-Kālachakra Ngondro system.
In this practice, we visualize ourselves in the enlightened form of the two-armed Kālachakra deity, known as Innate Kālachakra. This is the first of the two unique preliminaries for the Six Vajra Yogas according to the Jonang Tradition and is also known as the Generation Stage in Highest Yoga Tantra. We should only engage in this practice if we have previously received a Highest Yoga Tantra empowerment, preferably in accordance with the Kālachakra Tradition.
When you “generate yourself” as an enlightened deity, you are not generating a fabricated, make-believe reality, but instead, using an extraordinarily skillful method to bring you closer to the non-dual reality of enlightenment that is your most profound nature. With this method you learn to view the universe as pure and all beings in it as enlightened, even though they may appear to ordinary minds as having many defilements that have not yet been overcome. By seeing through conventional reality and embracing its ultimate nature, you are able to experience all levels of reality with a much clearer and more compassionate view.
Note regarding pre-requisites: for participating you need to have received a Kālachakra Empowerment / Initiation. If you have not, make sure you attend the concise Innate Kālachakra Empowerment that Rinpoché will bestow in December 2024: https://dzokden.org/events/2024-innate-kalachakra-jenang-and-kalachakra-mandala-generation-stage-retreat/
If you have not received the Kālachakra Empowerment but have received previously another empowerment in Highest Yoga Tantra from any authentic lineage holder and are keeping its commitments and practice, you can also register. If you did not receive any of these, you should wait until you have got the necessary prerequisites.
About the KALACHAKRA NGONDRO PROGRAM
About the KALACHAKRA NGONDRO PROGRAM
The Kālachakra Ngondro Program is a 2-year long program created for students who want to deepen themselves in the Kālachakra Path in a structured, step-by-step guided process.
The Ngondro — also called the “Preliminary Practices” — prepares you to uncover your own Buddha nature. If you want to completely unveil this perfect nature, the Kālachakra Ngondro prepares you for the very subtle and profound yogic practices of the Completion Stage called the ‘Six Vajra Yogas’ of the Kālachakra Tantra. You can benefit by doing the Kālachakra Ngondro even if you do not aspire to engage in serious meditation practices of the Kālachakra Completion Stage in this lifetime.
Shar Khentrul Rinpoché offers a flexible approach to embrace a variety of practitioners because being fixed on only one traditional way may not be a match for everyone. Developing familiarization with the Kālachakra Ngondro practices can be adjusted individually according to your own personal inclination.
Rafa Lobsang Dorje from Kalapa received 2018 Rinpoché’s encouragement to teach the Kālachakra Ngondro.
General Requirements
The program is open to all. There are no formal prerequisites for the previous Modules 1 – 7. (Pre-requisite for Module 8: please read above).
Generally speaking, the Kālachakra Ngondro Program is for you if you wish for long-term and regular support in your dharma practice, regardless if you are starting now or if you have been practicing previously. More specifically, modules 1-7 are shaped to help you prepare for receiving the 1st set of Kālachakra Empowerments (“Seven Empowerments of a Growing Child”), also known as the Kālachakra Initiation, and for receiving in the future the “Kālachakra Four Higher Empowerments” if you so aspire.
In case you want to have access to these previous Modules, please find them here:
MODULE 1, MODULE 2, MODULE 3, MODULE 3, MODULE 4, MODULE 5, MODULE 6, MODULE 7
We encourage all participants to get a copy of Shar Khentrul Rinpoché’s books; Unveiling Your Sacred Truth 1-3, The Hidden Treasure of the Profound Path, and the Practice Book The Profound Path of Vajra Yoga, as these will be the main references for our program.
Optionally, in case you are waiting for the module to start, you are encouraged to read Rinpoché’s other books, such as Ocean of Diversity and The Realm of Shambhala.
Structure of the Modules
The program follows the structure of the Kālachakra Path as presented by the Jonang-Kālachakra Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It is divided into Outer Preliminaries (2 modules), Inner Preliminaries (5 modules), and Unique Preliminaries (2 modules).
Each module includes a weekend-webinar of teachings and practice led by an authorized Ngongdro Teacher and by practices guided by other senior students approved by Rinpoché, followed by two group practice sessions of ca. 90 min. each and one Dharma discussion session where questions can be addressed to the Ngondro Teacher and where you can exchange with other participants. The schedule of the weekend-webinar may vary slightly from module to module.
Registration
Register below. Before the module starts, please make sure to send an e-mail to [email protected] briefly answering the following questions (only in case you did not yet send them when registering for another previous module). Your registration will be automatic and do not depend on the answers provided. The questions below are just for us to shape the module for registered participants.
1. What are your Motivations for participating in this program? What are your goals?
2. Do you have the aspiration to participate in more than one module or all of the modules?
3. Are you a student of Shar Khentrul Rinpoché? If yes, which online empowerment(s), retreat(s), or course(s) have you completed with Rinpoché or with one of his authorized Teachers? Please include details about them, including dates, etc. if applicable.
4. This program is open also to beginners. You can join even if you never practiced any spiritual path at all. Just in case you have something to share about your previous spiritual path, including both Buddhist Studies or Practices and from other traditions as well, please write them in a summarized form, if applicable.
5. Do you have any specific questions or doubts about the Kālachakra Ngondro Program?
Speaker
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Rafa Lobsang DorjeRafa Lobsang Dorje (Rafael Nassif) started his contact with Buddhism in 2008, after practicing in other systems of spiritual practice in his homeland Brazil. In Europe, India and Tibet he had precious opportunities to receive teachings, transmissions and empowerments from masters from almost all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and from the Theravada Tradition as well, and took part in different group and solitary retreats. He was fortunate to met his precious Guru Jamphel Lodrö (Khentrul Rinpoche) in Austria in 2015, from whom he has been receiving a vast and profound wealth of Dharma, from the foundational subjects until the Kalachakra Vajra Yogas. Since 2016 he has been teaching Lu Jong (Tibetan Healing Yoga). In 2018 he received from Rinpoche authorization and encouragement to teach the Dharma. Recently he reduced his professional activities as a composer in order to serve the altruistic ideals of his Guru as a full-time volunteer. He serves the community a.o. as a translator, editor, and coordinator of translation groups, and as a retreat leader and program coordinator.