Birth, Death, and Dream Yoga

The transition from birth to death and back again suffuses every moment of human life, not just the moment of physical death. This interplay reflects the constant changing of form and emptiness into each other. It is a shifting, ungraspable point-instant, where our practice as Buddhists takes place.

Ngak’chang Rinpoche will begin by presenting the Four Naljors of Dzogchen Sem-dé, four approaches to engaging with emptiness and form in the context of silent sitting meditation. He will then discuss birth and death through the Nine Bardos: different styles of “in-between-ness” that mark the changes of human experience. Rinpoche will also give transmission for Dream Yoga, a way to begin extending the practice of awareness into our dream and sleep states, as well as the transitions between waking and sleeping.

The weekend will consist of talks by Rinpoche and student teachers, questions and answers, and periods of meditation practice and yogic song.

On Friday evening (10/3), Rinpoche will give the dBang, or Tantric empowerment, of Tsogyel Dzambhala. Tsogyel Dzambhala represents in female form the endless wealth and generosity of the realized state, the inherent richness of the world.

dBang (Empowerment) of Tsogyel Dzambhala

Friday, October 3, 2008 - 7:30 p.m. / Teachings on Birth, Death, and Dream Yoga

Saturday, October 4, 2008 - Noon–6:00 pm / Sunday, October 5, 2008 - 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.