MA GYÜD - Bön mother Tantra - Part 1 of teachings for Shenten - by Lama Sangye Mönlam (online)

Link to Registration for Lama Sangye's online teaching (at Shenten Dargye Ling's page)

• Place: online on Shenten Dargye Ling's Zoom channel
• Registration: on Shenten's web page
• Begin: Thu June 11, 2020, 8:00 am
• End: Sun June 14, 2020, 21:15pm
• Time zone: CEST/ GMT+2, Central European summer time (Vienna, Paris)
• Language: Tibetan, interpreted into English and other languages (French, German, ...)
• Cost: Euro 40 payable to Shenten Dargye Ling (via Paypal)
• Contact: contact@shenten.org

With this online teaching June 11-14, 2020 Lama Sangye begins a series of Ma Gyud teachings for Shenten Dargye Ling on the mother mantra (Ma Gyud) text "the mandala of the sun of compassion", Guru Nöntse's terma. This is one of the most important Tantric texts in the Bön tradition and one of the main sources of Tsa Lung and Tummo. In 2020, Lama Sangye teaches mainly from the chapter Tharlam, the "way of escape" or "way of emancipation", and will cover the topics:

• Qualities of Lama and students. This part of Tharlam lists the required qualifications of Lamas and suitable students and describes how the Lama recognizes qualified students and how the student may recognize a qualified Lama. "Not trivial", as Lama Sangye comments, "because Lamas are not transparent". The chapter also provides psychological profiles of unqualified "Lamas" and unsuitable students, whose recognizable characterizations are quite hilarious, and demonstrate that human nature has not changed since Milu Samleg's time.
• The structure of the text "mandala of the sun of compassion": Lama Sangye will give an overview of the three main parts - "base", "path", and "fruit" - of the text, and their division into chapters and subdivision into "tigles" (units of information) and explain the relationship between the the root text and its commentary, and how the words of the tigles of the root text serve as section headings in the commentary. Equipped with this information, it is easy to put the individual teachings into context, and the formidable volume of this Ma Gyud text becomes a lot less confusing.
• The history of the text: Guru Nöntse's discovery of the terma "mandala of the sun of compassion" and its translation into Tibetan and subsequent history and transmission (quite a story).
• Practice of Gong Choe Nam Sum: together with Lama Sangye, we will recite the basic practice for integrating with the enlightened mind of Lama, Yidam and Khandro (Gong Choe Nam Sum) every day in the morning (after Sangchoe, before morning meditation) and in the evening (before evening meditation). This year, we just recite (playing damaru and shang during the soldeb, and practicing mudras). Lama Sangye will give a detailed commentary on this practice in one of the next teachings of the series.

Prerequisites: Lama Sangye Mönlam's Ma Gyüd teachings are suitable for beginners and new students as well as for advanced practitioners, including those who have already received Ma Gyüd teachings. As most of us have experienced, with profound texts such as the Ma Gyüd, one understands the same teachings on a new level upon every encounter with them, and always learns something new.

Click here for the Ma Gyud page of Yeshe Sal Ling!

Further teachings by Lama Sangye Mönlam here.

Announcements of Lama Sangye's earlier Ma Gyüd teachings (for archival reasons) here: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. (The announcement for 2011 has not been preserved.)