All teachings by Khandro Déchen

A blind alley

Khandro Déchen Apprentice: Recently I’ve begun to struggle with anything other than shi-nè (which has also become more inconsistent). I’ve also been …

Accountability

The Vajrayana Ethos of the Five Precepts

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen For anyone who has been concerned by the revelations of abuse in the world of Vajrayana Buddhism, here is a text from our Lineage Lamas outlining the five precept guidelines by which they, and all the Aro gTér teachers, abide.

Aspiration power

thug-mön – thugs sMon pranidhana paramita – vectoral verve

Khandro Déchen Thugmön (thugs sMon) the mind of aspiration – more generally referred to as mönlam (sMon lam), the path of aspiration, …

being touched by poignancy

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice Sometimes there is something almost unbearable about it. The poignancy of human life. So many things. The sadness of …

Calamity Jane

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice I am aware that I am not very brave – but I would like to be brave. I seem …

career Buddhists

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice I think something strange happens to people when they become involved with religions. I have this feeling because I …

Celebrate every aspect of each other

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Prospective apprentices You said that trust and respect are essential in relationship—could you say more about that—just so that we …

cheerfully and without resenting yourself

Khandro Déchen Apprentice . . . You are right. I am going through a lot of conflict. It was just that I …

Children and Pemakö

Establishing Lhundrüp Tobgyé Ling

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Lhundrüp Tobgyé Ling is the shortened form of Nga’gyür Yoga’i Drüp-dé Lhundrüp Tobgyé Ling ‘Early-translation Yogic Meditation College where Strength is Gained Spontaneously’. It is a Ngak’phang Dratsang for children – a place where boys and girls from the Pemakö region can receive both a secular education and training which will prepare them—should it be their long-term desire—to become ordained ngakpas and ngakmas.

Death

We live our lives as if death were years away, and this is a denial of reality.

Khandro Déchen I worked as a nurse for fifteen years—the last seven of which were in cancer hospice care—so I feel it …

Defining heresy

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Heresy is not a popular word, in terms of criticising religious trends. It does not lend itself to the ‘feel …

Defining the word ‘sangha’

The two divisions of the sangha of ordained practitioners

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen There are various definitions of gendün or sangha which give a sense of the position and authentic dignity of the …

demented delight

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice When I told you that I was sad but that maybe I understood something – i.e. I’m sad because …

Depression is the postern

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice I do tend to get overwhelmed, and worry intensely about things . . .
Khandro Déchen If you see this …

Diligence

tsöndrü – brTson ’grus – virya paramita

Khandro Déchen Diligence—tsöndrü (brTson ’grus – virya paramita) was described by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche as energy. It could also be described as …

Discipline

tsultrim – tshul khrims – shila paramita

Khandro Déchen Discipline (tshul khrims / shila paramita / ethics or morality), according to Dzogchen, can also be spoken of as energy …

Drala Jong Interview with Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen

16 May 2015

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen In 2011, the Drala Jong Blog published an interview, in four parts, with Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen on the …

Düd’jom

tobacco - the demonic carcinogen with tacit government sanction

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen We enthusiastically express our unending devotion to Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche, Jig’drèl Yeshé Dorje—Mahasiddha and luminary gTértön of the 20th century. …

Embracing Emotions as the Path

Colours and Elements in Tantric Psychology

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Only through direct experience can we begin to perceive our world differently. Philosophical speculations and intellectual conjectures that are not …

Empowerment & Transmission

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen The fundamental damtsig is to sustain the experience of transmission through practice—and ultimately, in every moment.
The Tibetan word for empowerment …

Enraged Buddhism

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen “I’m an engaged Buddhist.” “Congratulations – when is the wedding day?”
Buddhism has been engaged from the beginning. There has never …

Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon: Online Teaching with Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen

25 June 2021

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Buddhist Door promoted Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen's weekend of online teachings celebrating the publication of the second edition of …

Generosity

jinpa – sByin pa – dana paramita

Khandro Déchen The Paramitas—ultimately—are actions which are free from the crimp of duality – actions which arise spontaneously from the non-dual state. …

Great expectations

Khandro Déchen Apprentice I feel trapped by life—and I do not know how to apply Dharma to situations where I feel trapped. …

“Here’s to boredom!”

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice You have often said that shi-nè is boring and that boredom is necessary in terms of experience. But what …

“I do” – one way or another

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice A man at the recent public retreat asked me about who authorises or vouches for Lamas in the Nyingma …

If I am a practitioner

Khandro Déchen Being simple does not mean that one becomes monochromatic.
Being simple does not mean being stunted in our appreciation of everything …

Interviews of Aro gTér lamas

From Steve James' Guru Viking podcast

Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Khandro Déchen, Mé-tsal Wangmo, Ja'gyür Dorje, Sang-gyé A-tsal & Tsül'dzin Ying-chuk Ep8: Ngakpa Chögyam
In this interview I am joined by Ngakpa Chögyam a blues loving, horse riding Ngakpa, who with …

it’s not British, you know

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice I get a bit worried sometimes—not all the time—by what is said of the Mahasiddhas. Whenever I read about …

Just a nyam?

Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen Apprentice I had an interesting experience recently. I sat in our dining room looking out into a glowering dark blue …