Diana and Michael Sullivan are among our many outlier practitioners who practice in small groups through out the US. They recently participated in Tsegyalgar East's webinar for Strategic Planning. Last summer a number of practitioners from Milwaukee participated in our Summer Celebration. Hello Milwaukee!!!!
***
Here's a message from Elise Gonzales from San Antonio, Texas
Here's a message from Elise Gonzales from San Antonio, Texas
A Happy and Prosperous Losar
For Our Precious Teacher, His Whole Family,
Our Precious Vajra Family,
The Dzogchen Community!!!
With Love and Best Wishes from Texas,
Allan, Anne, Brad, Cristal, Elisa, Gabriela,
Kris, Laura, Linda, Shiva, Susan, Suzi, Tashi
****
Another Message from Dianeah Wanicek from Yellow Springs, Ohio
This is a short description of the Dzogchen practice group in Yellow Springs,Ohio and a bit of history about the Yellow Springs Dharma Center where group practice happens. It is my wish that this gives you some context for this dedicated, little group in this village of 4000.
In 1988 I met with the teachings for the first time when I discovered the book,
The Crystal and the Way of Light, in the library of the Antioch College Buddhist Studies Program at the Burmese Vihar, Bodh Gaya India. It was the first year that I joined the program that my husband had begun in 1979. Reading that book set me on the path to meeting the Master.
A few months after returning home that year we visited old friends in Berkeley, Margaret and Ken Bradford (then still married). She told me about Yantra Yoga and all things Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. I was elated! I shall always be grateful to her. That stream of very exciting info along with lasting impression of the book sealed the quest for me. I went to my first retreat in 1990 and two years later to the 1992 retreat and every one since then. A few other local friends that had also been on those retreats wanted to continue practicing Yantra and the Short and Medium Tuns together back home at the Yellow Springs DharmaCenter. ( The Yellow Springs Dharma Center was founded by my husband and myself with a group of friends in the mid 80’s.) I practiced on my own too and studied for and passed the base exam in 1996.
Through time those that practiced together came and went. I practiced alone most of the time but missed not being able to manifest a larger community of Dzogchen practitioners.
(It is not so easy to do the Dance of the Vajra by yourself) I hosted the Webcasts and before that Video “casts.” Slowly things moved but often they seemed to stall. In the last 3 to 4 years however there has been an upsurge in interest and now we have around 5 to 8 people attending Ganapujas twice a month. Some of them are long time Dzogchen practitioners and everyone in this group is dedicated to Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and the teachings. Shitro practice has been done for those who have died. We still attempt Yantra Yoga twice a month, though arthritis has cramped some of us in our moves. Lynn Sutherland has been here to teach Yantra Yoga twice since 2009. The group that formed for those retreats does not always come for the Yantra practice and most were not students of Rinpoche’s. Some of them were yogi’s and some were Zen and Vipassnana Practitioners. The rest were Dzogchen practitioners and they do participate in the other Dzogchen practices at the Center. All of those that attend Ganapujas and Shitro have been to Rinpoche’s retreats and received transmission. To have 5 people from our group travel to Tsegyalgar together in 2015 for the first time seemed like a great victory.
A little on the Yellow Springs Dharma Center. We are a center that holds all three traditions together in Rime’ fashion. Vipassana, Zen and Dzogchen practitioners work together on the various committees that keep the center running. We are completely donation based. We have had Vipassna teachers, Zen Roshi’s, and other Dzogchen master teachers visit throughout the years, especially those that have been connected to the Antioch Buddhist Studies Program which has had a strong link to our center.
Tsultrim Allione led the Mandarava Retreat here in June 1999. (Subsequently I organized her Pilgrimages to Maratika and another to Bhutan and helped lead the logistical side of things in-country.) It is the teachings of our Master Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche that the group is dedicated to, connects with on Retreats and Webcasts and continues to practice collectively at the center. It keeps us linked together in a very earnest and very joyful way (…Im thinking now about our Losar Celebration last night).
Please let me know if you have any questions, there is of course lots more information but I have tried to be as brief as possible. We would like to let others know what is happening here as so few of Rinpoche’s students in this middle land are connected to each other. What do you think?
Thank you Jacqueline
Dianeah Wanicek
Yellow Springs Dharma Center Board Member
Dzogchen practice organizer and Tsegyalgar Member
*****
For Our Precious Teacher, His Whole Family,
Our Precious Vajra Family,
The Dzogchen Community!!!
With Love and Best Wishes from Texas,
Allan, Anne, Brad, Cristal, Elisa, Gabriela,
Kris, Laura, Linda, Shiva, Susan, Suzi, Tashi
****
Another Message from Dianeah Wanicek from Yellow Springs, Ohio
This is a short description of the Dzogchen practice group in Yellow Springs,Ohio and a bit of history about the Yellow Springs Dharma Center where group practice happens. It is my wish that this gives you some context for this dedicated, little group in this village of 4000.
In 1988 I met with the teachings for the first time when I discovered the book,
The Crystal and the Way of Light, in the library of the Antioch College Buddhist Studies Program at the Burmese Vihar, Bodh Gaya India. It was the first year that I joined the program that my husband had begun in 1979. Reading that book set me on the path to meeting the Master.
A few months after returning home that year we visited old friends in Berkeley, Margaret and Ken Bradford (then still married). She told me about Yantra Yoga and all things Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. I was elated! I shall always be grateful to her. That stream of very exciting info along with lasting impression of the book sealed the quest for me. I went to my first retreat in 1990 and two years later to the 1992 retreat and every one since then. A few other local friends that had also been on those retreats wanted to continue practicing Yantra and the Short and Medium Tuns together back home at the Yellow Springs DharmaCenter. ( The Yellow Springs Dharma Center was founded by my husband and myself with a group of friends in the mid 80’s.) I practiced on my own too and studied for and passed the base exam in 1996.
Through time those that practiced together came and went. I practiced alone most of the time but missed not being able to manifest a larger community of Dzogchen practitioners.
(It is not so easy to do the Dance of the Vajra by yourself) I hosted the Webcasts and before that Video “casts.” Slowly things moved but often they seemed to stall. In the last 3 to 4 years however there has been an upsurge in interest and now we have around 5 to 8 people attending Ganapujas twice a month. Some of them are long time Dzogchen practitioners and everyone in this group is dedicated to Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and the teachings. Shitro practice has been done for those who have died. We still attempt Yantra Yoga twice a month, though arthritis has cramped some of us in our moves. Lynn Sutherland has been here to teach Yantra Yoga twice since 2009. The group that formed for those retreats does not always come for the Yantra practice and most were not students of Rinpoche’s. Some of them were yogi’s and some were Zen and Vipassnana Practitioners. The rest were Dzogchen practitioners and they do participate in the other Dzogchen practices at the Center. All of those that attend Ganapujas and Shitro have been to Rinpoche’s retreats and received transmission. To have 5 people from our group travel to Tsegyalgar together in 2015 for the first time seemed like a great victory.
A little on the Yellow Springs Dharma Center. We are a center that holds all three traditions together in Rime’ fashion. Vipassana, Zen and Dzogchen practitioners work together on the various committees that keep the center running. We are completely donation based. We have had Vipassna teachers, Zen Roshi’s, and other Dzogchen master teachers visit throughout the years, especially those that have been connected to the Antioch Buddhist Studies Program which has had a strong link to our center.
Tsultrim Allione led the Mandarava Retreat here in June 1999. (Subsequently I organized her Pilgrimages to Maratika and another to Bhutan and helped lead the logistical side of things in-country.) It is the teachings of our Master Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche that the group is dedicated to, connects with on Retreats and Webcasts and continues to practice collectively at the center. It keeps us linked together in a very earnest and very joyful way (…Im thinking now about our Losar Celebration last night).
Please let me know if you have any questions, there is of course lots more information but I have tried to be as brief as possible. We would like to let others know what is happening here as so few of Rinpoche’s students in this middle land are connected to each other. What do you think?
Thank you Jacqueline
Dianeah Wanicek
Yellow Springs Dharma Center Board Member
Dzogchen practice organizer and Tsegyalgar Member
*****
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