Happy New Year & March Newsletter

Happy Losar – Tibetan New Year. Everyone at Aro Ling Buddhist Centre wishes you a healthy, happy and prosperous year of the Wood Ewe.

We have one main event in March, a new scheduled event plus the ongoing regular classes and groups. Don't forget that this Saturday, 7th March, is the first of the month. Do come along to Discovering Spaciousness of Mind, 10 - 12.

March 13 – 15
Songs of the Owl Faced Dakini
A weekend retreat of 5 sessions – attend 1 or as many sessions as you wish
£6 a session, £25 for all 5 sessions paid as one sum

Session 1:  Friday March 13th  19:00 – 20:30
Fundamental Certainties – the first and most fundamental teaching of Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

Session 2:  Saturday March 14th  10:00 – 12:00
Being a Buddhist – taking refuge, becoming a Buddhist, and living within the five precepts; understanding the principles of Buddhism (NB this is a teaching on the topic. Attending this session does not mean you are committing to becoming a Buddhist or to the Aro gTér Lineage. There will be a refuge ceremony on the Sunday morning if it is requested.)

Session 3:  Saturday March 14th  14:00 – 16:00
Irrepressible Expansiveness – the 10 paramitas as a means of becoming a Bodhisattva, an Awakened-Mind Warrior

Session 4:  Saturday March 14th  18:00 – 20:00
Tantric Empowerment – transmission of the practice of Padmasambhava, the tantric Buddha and founder of the Nyingma tradition of Buddhism in Tibet

Session 5:  Sunday March 15th  10:00 – 12:00
Cyclic existence – the mechanism of samsara; how we maintain the cycle of dissatisfaction and how to let this patterning dissolve and unravel itself of itself


Ngakma Nor’dzin and Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin will lead this weekend of teachings. The Songs of the Owl-faced Dakini encompass the teachings of Sutra presented from the basis of Inner Tantra.

Please let us know if you would like to be included in the booking for lunch on Saturday 14th at a local restaurant.

New event at Aro Ling starting Tuesday 10th March:
Siop Siarad
Aro Ling is hosting two Welsh language conversation meetings for Welsh learners: Tuesdays at 13:15 and Wednesdays at 16:15. Everyone welcome whatever your level of competence with the language.

Regular events:
Discovering the Spaciousness of Mind – first Saturday of each month, 10 – 12, £5
Tibetan Yoga for the over 50s – Tuesday, one hour class 10:30 re,quested donation £3
Guided Meditation – Tuesday, 12:00 – 13:00, requested donation £3  
Siop Siarad – Tuesdays, 13:15  
Meditation Group – Tuesday, 19:00 – 20:30, requested donation £5
Tibetan Yoga – Wednesday, one hour class 14:00, requested donation £3
Children’s Story-time – Wednesday, 15:45 – 16:15, requested donation £1
Siop Siarad – Wednesday, 16:15
Tibetan Yoga – Wednesday, one hour class 17:30, requested donation £3
Tibetan Yoga – Thursday, one hour class at 10:30, requested donation £3
Guided Meditation – Thursday, 12:00 – 13:00, requested donation £3  

Khandro Shardröl Rinchen Wangmo

Khandro Shardröl Rinchen Wangmo

Born on 1st March, Khandro Shardröl Rinchen Wangmo was the incarnation of Khandro Losèl Drölma – the sister of DoKhyentsé Yeshé Dorje.Khandro Shardröl Rinchen Wangmo held a family tradition concerning birds which she had received from her mother – A-shong Rig’dzin Gyalmo (A shong rig ’dzin rGyal mo) and received a considerable body of teaching from Aro Lingma on this subject.

Khandro Shardröl Rinchen Wangmo did not see a great deal of her mother when she was a young child as she was brought up by her father’s other two wives. She would however go up into the mountains to spend some of each summer with her mother and at these times she learnt a great deal about practice. She was unafraid of wild animals and was never injured by them – no matter how ferocious they were toward human beings. She left home permanently to live in the mountains as her mother’s attendant and disciple when she was thirteen, and remained with her until her death.

After her mother’s death she left the area and travelled as a wandering practitioner until she met with Aro Lingma’s party as it travelled south from Golok. She taught Aro Yeshé how to play flute and dramyen and many practices of envisionment. She had experience of rTsa rLung exercises and was highly proficient in the sKu-mNyé and A-tri systems of the Aro gTér.

[See Aro Encyclopaedia]

A-shé Khandro

A-shé Khandro

Born on 1st March, A-shé Tashi Pema Khandro (A shes bKra shis pad ma mKha’ ’gro, 1911-unknown) was the elder of the two sang-yums of Aro Yeshé (the younger sister was A-yé Khandro – A ye mKh’ ’gro). A-shé Khandro was master of the family histories of the major yogis and yoginis of the Aro Gar and could recite all their family trees and lineage trees by heart. She had been given many instructions and teachings by Aro Lingma – particularly concerning the dissemination of the Aro gTér and her rôle in supporting Aro Yeshé and A-yé Khandro.

A-shé Khandro was inordinately fond of animals – so much so that many of the wild animals in the area were remarkably tame. There was no hunting in the area, by the insistence of A-shé Khandro. A-shé Khandro could attract the presence of eagles in the sky with her voice, and they would swoop down very close to her. The two girls were regarded as Dakinis and therefore whatever they did was regarded as an inspiration. Once Aro Yeshé passed on the transmission of the Aro gTér to A-yé Khandro and A-shé Khandro – and subsequently to the yoginis who were his five adoptive mothers; he never taught again. All teachings and transmission after that point were given by A-shé Khandro and A-yé Khandro.

[See Aro Encyclopaedia]

Jomo Chhi’mèd Pema

Jomo Chhi’mèd Pema

Born on 3rd February, Jomo Chhi’mèd Pema was mainly regarded as an eccentric goat herder with powers of healing and weather prediction. In actuality, she was a realised yogini. a powerful Lama who could converse with the local Mountain Protectress and gave local people advice about farming in terms of the times to sew and reap. She gave people life advice but was not known as a teacher. Secretly, she was a Dzogchen Long-dé master whose disciples visited her at night to receive instructions. Jomo Chhi’mèd Pema had a wealth of knowledge concerning rocks and stones and had her own medical gTérma which employed the diagnosis of cranial echoes produced by tapping certain special pebbles.

[See Aro Encyclopaedia]

February newsletter 2015 – Aro Ling Buddhist Centre Cardiff

The first weekend retreat at Aro Ling Buddhist Centre was a great success. Several people travelled from Bristol to attend, as well as one person from Cornwall, and the rest of the group lived locally. Offering separate sessions over the weekend also worked well. Two people were only able to be with us for one session, two people attended two sessions, one person came for three sessions, and the rest were present for the whole weekend. Eight of us enjoyed a lovely lunch together at the nearby restaurant, Miss Jones; and later we had afternoon tea and cake at Coffee #1.

There will not be a weekend retreat in February because Ngakma Nor’dzin and Ngakpa ’o-Dzin are teaching a weekend at the Aro Ling Buddhist Centre in Bristol that month: 20th and 21st February. They are teaching on the history of the Aro gTér, Natural Dignity and Regency Dancing as an aspect of Natural Dignity. 

The next weekend in Cardiff will be the 13 - 15th March. The topic—as requested—will be The Songs of the Owl-faced Dakini. As before, it will be possible to attend one session, several sessions, or all five – the choice is yours.

The Songs of the Owl-faced Dakini

– a weekend retreat: March 13 – 15, 2015
£6 a session or £25 for the whole weekend – attend one, several or all sessions

Session 1: Fundamental Certainties  Friday March 13th 19:00 – 20:30  
– the first and most fundamental teaching of Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
Session 2: Being a Buddhist  Saturday March 14th  10:00 – 12:00   
– taking refuge, becoming a Buddhist, and living within the five precepts; understanding the principles of Buddhism
Session 3: Irrepressible Expansiveness  Saturday March 14th  14:00 – 16:00   
– the 10 paramitas as a means of becoming a Bodhisattva - Awakened-Mind Warrior
Session 4: Tantric Empowerment  Saturday March 14th  18:00 – 20:00   
– transmission of the practice of Padmasambhava, the tantric Buddha and founder of the Nyingma Tradition
Session 5: Cyclic existence  Sunday March 15th  10:00 – 12:00  
- the mechanism of samsara; how we maintain the cycle of dissatisfaction and how to let this patterning dissolve and unravel itself of itself
 
Ngakma Nor’dzin and Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin will lead this weekend of teachings. The Songs of the Owl-faced Dakini encompass the teachings of Sutra presented from the basis of Inner Tantra.

The days and times of regular events at Aro Ling Buddhist Centre in Cardiff have changed slightly for the new year. We are no longer opening on a Friday, but are opening on a Thursday instead.
Discovering the Spaciousness of Mind – first Saturday of each month, 10 – 12, £5
Tibetan Yoga for the over 50s – Tuesday, one hour class 10:30 re,quested donation £3
Guided Meditation – Tuesday, 12:00 – 13:00, requested donation £3  

Meditation Group – Tuesday, 19:00 – 20:30, requested donation £5

Tibetan Yoga – Wednesday, one hour class 14:00, requested donation £3
Children’s Story-time – Wednesday, 15:45 – 16:15, requested donation £1
Tibetan Yoga – Wednesday, one hour class 17:30, requested donation £3
Tibetan Yoga – Thursday, one hour class at 10:30, requested donation £3
Guided Meditation – Thursday, 12:00 – 13:00, requested donation £3                     

Gomchenma Künzang Rang-rig Long-tsal

Khyungchen Aro Lingma

Born on 2nd January, Gomchenma Künzang Rang-rig Long-tsal was the grand-niece of Jomo Chhi’mèd Pema. Aro Lingma requested that Gomchenma Künzang Rang-rig Long-tsal introduce the naljorpa and naljorma vows into the Aro gTér Tradition, and asked Ngak’chang A-kyong Dud-dul Dorje to introduce the ngakpa and ngakma vows. Aro Lingma esteemed both variants of the gö-kar-chang-lo as important methods of practice, and encouraged them equally. These gö-kar-chang-lo ordination lines go back to the time of Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel in Tibet.

Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér

Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér

Born on 1st January, Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér Dri’mèd Yingma  (Jo mo pad ma ’od zer dri ’med dByings ma – Lady Lotus Light Rays in Immaculate Space, 1839-1902) was an incarnation of Tashi Chhi’drèn.

Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér’s sang-yab or spiritual consort was Rang-rig Togden, and together, they were the mother and father of Khyungchen Aro Lingma. Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér and Rang-rig Togden were therefore the grandparents of Aro Yeshé.

Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér was primarily a Dzogchen long-dé master – but she was also an accomplished phurba master. It is said that her phurba vibrated when she sang phurba mantra. She is always shown in wrathful demeanour with a phurba in her belt – and also in her left and right hands.

Khyungchen Aro Lingma described her mother—Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér—as an emanation of Tsogyel Tröllö, and said that no one could meet her gaze, even though she was never wrathful in terms of how she related with people.

Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér wears the Dzogchen blue chuba and is draped with the red, white, and blue shawl of the gö-kar chang-lo’i dé.

[See Aro Encyclopaedia]