Event : Phowa Retreat by Ayang Rinpoche
Date : December 1-9
Venue : Rigdzin Switzerland Thegchok Ling Centre
Address : Ch. du Trabandan 51 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland
Website : http://namkha.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=237%3Aphowa-retreat&catid=40%3Atop-headlines
Programme :
Dec 1 Wed 1930 Introduction to Phowa
Dec 2 Thu 1400 Buddha Amitabha Empowerment
Dec 3 Fri
0800 Phowa Teaching
1400 Phowa Teaching
1900 Phowa Teaching
Dec 4 Sat
0800 Phowa Oral Transmission
1400 Phowa Practice
1900 Phowa Practice
Dec 5 Sun
0800 Vajrasattva Teaching
1400 Nyingma Phowa Practice
1900 Drikung Phowa Practice
Dec 6 Monday
0800 3 Excellences Teaching
1400 Nyingma Phowa Practice
1900 Drikung Phowa Practice
Dec 7 Tue
0800 Buddha Amitabha Meditation Teaching
1400 Short Nyingma Phowa practice
1900 Buddha Amitabha and Buddha Vajrasattva short meditation Teaching
Dec 8 Wed
0800 Teaching on doing Phowa for others at the moment of death
1400 Milarepa Tsog Offering Prayer
1900 Short Drikung Phowa Practice
Dec 9 Thu
0800 Teaching on doing Phowa for oneself at the moment of death
1400 Buddha Amitabha Tsog Offering and Buddha Amitabha Pureland Aspiration Prayer
*It is advised to come to the entire retreat but if one cannot come to the full event, one can still register day by day.
Phowa, or ‘transference of consciousness at the time of death’ is a simple and direct Buddhist method to attain enlightenment at the specific moment of death. Through a combination of breath, mantra and visualization techniques applied at the time of death, the consciousness is ejected from the Brahma aperture, avoiding rebirth in one of the six realms of cyclic existence.
This practice is especially relevant in the present day, when most of us lack the luxury of lengthy solitary meditative practice. Because of this lack, as well as the overwhelming path that is simple and direct, and which enables us to transform the stresses of modern life into a vital force that cuts through attachment to illusory objects and awakens in us the realization of our own Buddha nature. Life is very short and can end suddenly without warning. When death comes we have no escape, neither our accumulated wealth nor our dear ones can help us. Nothing can, except the precious teaching.
These teachings will be given by his Eminence K.C Ayang Rinpoche who is considered to be the world’s living Phowa master. A lineage-holder of both the Nyingma and Drikung Phowa he continues the unbroken line of succession of the Drikung Phowa lamas from Buddha Vajradhara. After living for five years at Namdrol Ling monastery in Bylakuppe, India, Rinpoche started to build a second monastery, Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling, also in Bylakuppe. He is intensively teaching in Western countries where he also founded the Amitabha Foundation Centres whose branches spread throughout the world.