We recently completed a group practice retreat of the Dakini Mandarava and the Vajra Dance at Kunselling.  About a dozen practitioners participated at various times and we were blessed with superb weather – hot sun and clear blue skies which are ideal for practising sky gazing and the Tsogthig [...]

The pink and white cherry blossom of Hackney blessed my first, but long overdue, visit to Lekdanling for the May bank holiday Mandarava Tsalung teachings. Transport challenges notwithstanding, 27 of us gathered in the lovely multifunction practice room on Friday evening, for the start of the intensive teaching. People [...]

The Faiths In Tune Interfaith Music Festival was held this year in the stunning Queen Elizabeth II Great Court of the British Museum and it was a perfect venue for exploring interfaith music and dance.  The iconic venue was an outstanding backdrop, both visually and acoustically, for the music [...]

This is a brief outline of the relationship of the UK Dzogchen Community’s Gakyil with the International Gakyil of the International Dzogchen Community. The International Gakyil is intended to support and encourage the activities of local Gakyils that take responsibility for the International Dzogchen Community. Providing oversight and connection [...]

Norma Levine has continually mined the experience of her own life in the dharma to become one of our foremost chroniclers and interpreters of Tibetan Buddhism’s entry into the modern world. Like many of the Americans and Europeans drawn irrevocably into the orbit of the Tibetan lamas, the turning [...]

Reviewed by Jonathan Clewley It is well known, at least in the Buddhist Community, that Vajrayana practice was introduced to the West in the 1960s and 70s by Tibetan lamas who had escaped from the destruction of Planet Tibet. What is less well known, however, is the role an [...]

Penny manifesting as a Karma Yogini Winter karma yoga was a real pleasure to attend. A group of enthusiastic and talented yogis turned up on Sunday evening, all ready for action and Rowan, Stephie and Rose were there already and had prepared a delicious venison stew. Rowan decorated the [...]

I have just returned from a personal retreat at Tsegyalgar West and was told of the opportunities for Karma Yoga while I was there.  It really is a fabulous place but it needs a lot of upkeep as the land and buildings are extensive.  A stay there during the [...]

Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro,(1893-1959)  was the last of the great masters to live almost his entire lifetime in Tibet where his extraordinary activity could flourish unimpeded by Modern Times. This account of his life propels us into Planet Tibet: the good, the bad and the inconceivable. He was [...]

Recently Lenka Tchernobay kindly shared these pictures from the Moscow retreat led by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 1994. Although the prints are in black and white and not as sharp as we are used to today with modern technology, they capture the inspired atmosphere [...]

Here at Dzamling Gar we have had a bookshop for a while now and it has undergone a few changes and developments in the recent months. I am introducing Alessandra Policreti who has been managing and running the bookshop since about two years. She says that up until June [...]

On the weekend of the 20-21st Jan, James Low gave a teaching at our London centre, Lekdanling. The weekend was preceded by an SSIUK lecture on the same topic, 'Who am I? Buddhist approaches to the mystery of me being me’.   As usual, James led an exploration of the [...]

John Renshaw led a Kumbhaka course at Lekdanling on the weekend of the 6th and 7th of January 2018. So soon after the New Year festivities, I was unsure how many people would be in the mood for some intensive practice but, to my surprise, the course was well [...]

I hope my descriptions of Tsegyalgar West have conveyed the strong connection I made with the place and people of this Gar in the far West. I hope to inspire others to make the long journey to Baja California to visit and take advantage of the unique opportunities the [...]

For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.        Sanskrit proverb   Marco Baseggio led a workshop on Harmonious Breathing at the London Centre of the UK Dzogchen Community, Lekdanling. Marco has been studying and teaching Yantra Yoga for more than [...]

At Tsegyalgar West, apart from my usual schedule, or rather my unusual non-schedule, there were some meditational highlights that took place in special places on the land. The first of these was the look-out rock which is situated directly above the Gonpa of the Gar. You can climb up [...]

Driving up the rutted approach track to the Gar, looking across a ravine, you can make out many small casitas scattered through the greenery.   The casitas are a few yards apart and consist of one large room. One side is a glass wall and sliding doors open [...]

A year ago today, I set off for Baja California. My plan was simple - to spend a month at Tsegyalgar West, making a personal retreat of the Dakini Mandarava.  In a series of blogposts, I am going to describe this amazing Gar and some of my meditational experiences [...]

Part Two - The Dance of the Vajra Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, a renowned scholar and widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest living masters of Dzogchen, the essence of Tibetan Buddhism, first introduced this Dance of the Vajra to his students in 1990. It is mainly practised in [...]

Guru Garab Dorje As we arrived at Kunselling, we encountered stormy weather which persisted into the initial days of the retreat, with high winds and lashing rain. In a way, the storm mirrored the turbulent contortions of mind that Igor led us through during our six days [...]

  In human experience, dance and song begin where the utility of communication ends. Requiring no instruments, other than our body and vocal cords, they are art, a luxury that brings richness, joy, and meaning. Like music itself, they are universal, unifying, expressive, and profound.   On a contemporary, [...]

Some months ago I received an email from my boss - as some of you know I work for a UK based fundraising consultancy firm – saying “Elena, we’ve got a charity evening in our house in September, it’s for a local church, why don’t you come and do [...]

Saturday 23rd September 2017:- Rinpoche and Rosa arrived in Dzamlingar on Saturday around 2.30pm and he was greeted by many people. As his journey started very early in the morning Rinpoche and Rosa quickly ascended to their apartment which was completely overhauled and renewed for them. The Dzamlingar sangha [...]

Wednesday 20th September: Preparation for Rinpoche’s arrival in Dzamlingar on Saturday We are tangibly buzzing in Dzamlingar. Excited about Rinpoche’s imminent arrival on Saturday afternoon we are activated and getting very busy. The Cafeteria is being cleaned and upgraded. A host of second hand chairs have arrived as a [...]

England, India, Burma, Sikkim & Beyond by Norma Levine Excerpt: A Conscious Death I met Freda Bedi not in her life but in her death. From the little I knew, I imagined her an English memsahib, a vestige of the British raj, a great organizer, a doer of good [...]