The Path of Freedom retreat is a special opportunity for Longchen Foundation students to hear teachings directly from Rigdzin Shikpo, especially for those who recently have begun studying on a Longchen programme such as the first year of the Lion’s Roar or at Path of Freedom local groups. Rigdzin Shikpo does not usually teach to students until the third year of the Lion’s Roar or on later programmes such as the Endless Compassionate Vision. So, this is a very special chance to be able to meet with and hear teachings directly from Rigdzin Shikpo, at a very early stage.
While the Lion’s Roar is itself a self-contained programme, in order for students to continue studying on the path of the Longchen Foundation, Rigdzin Shikpo considers it essential that students also get exposure to more traditional Buddhist ideas, which are offered as part of the Path of Freedom training. This retreat would satisfy that requirement, as at this retreat, Rigdzin Shikpo typically teaches very extensively on topics that range over the entirety of the Buddhist path.
We currently only have two tickets available for in-person or day attendees, so do not delay! We have unlimited tickets for online attendees via Zoom. Reserve your place now for this 5-day retreat on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/path-of-freedom-retreat-tickets-335712163117
Lion’s Roar Gate 4: Tickets Now on Sale
You can now purchase tickets to the forthcoming Lion’s Roar Gate 4. This weekend of teachings is one of the most special of the Lion’s Roar training and is open to anyone who has attended Lion’s Roar Gate 3 at any time in the past and will be taught online via Zoom. Mary Mackay-James will continue her teaching of the Lion’s Roar at this weekend. We have early-bird pricing available only until August 27th so don’t delay! You can purchase tickets on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-lions-roar-gate-4-weekend-1011-september-online-tickets-398011552267
Dharma Quotation
The following Dharma Quotation comes from Rigdzin Shikpo’s teachings on the Path of Freedom Retreat from 2018:
If everything is completely accomplished, as it says in Ati texts, then you don’t need to go anywhere or do anything. But you have to have a genuine experience of that, otherwise it’s just playing games with yourself and you realise, in the end, that you are still miserable. You might have heard the Ati teaching, but you still experience suffering so what was the point? You have to, as they say, become an Ati person. It’s not just hearing the teaching of Dzogchen, the texts say you have to become Dzogchen. You have to realise that all things are accomplished within you, and you have to know that as a direct experience. You have tremendous confidence and certainty that everything is accomplished. You have certainty down to the marrow of your bones.
But, if you were to see the reality of things, then you would see that actually there is nothing to attain or realise either, so you can afford to be totally relaxed about that too. In fact, there never has been anything to realise. As Longchen Rabjam says, “There is no liberation, there never was liberation, there will be no arising of liberation, for how can one be liberated from bonds non-existent from the very beginning?” There is no Samsara to be liberated from because there is nothing that is binding you to it, and there is no Nirvana because, after all, Nirvana was just something that cures the sickness of Samsara. Since Samsara doesn’t exist neither does Nirvana. As Longchen Rabjam says, even the name Nirvana doesn’t exist.
Rigdzin Shikpo