WINTER RETREAT
In this season of Holy Days
and celebrations of Light,
may we recognize and take refuge in
the heart's inherent fullness
of gratitude and wonder.
Together let’s rest our gaze
within the ineffable silent
Mystery.
The origin of uncaused joy and peace.
Feasting our eyes on
the beauty we find before us.
And generously gifting our attention
to the changeless, eternal essence
at the heart of all being.
Dancing, singing and moving from this heart.
So as never before, each will be,
creatively and uniquely,
radiant with Love's Presence and possibility.
Love Everlasting Retreat with Ani Lodro
Dec 05 (4PM) – Dec 9 (2pm)
REGISTRATION
Please go to www.anilodroretreats.com and place a deposit of 50%.
For any questions, please email us at VajraVidyaCrestone@gmail.com,
or call us at 719-256-5539.
Location:
Vajra Vidya Retreat Center
3203 Camino Baca Grande
Crestone, CO
Cost for Retreat:
Vajra Vidya Lodging - All sessions & Meals $550
Commuting - All sessions & Meals, no lodging $350
Zoom attendance - $150
Note: Above costs do not include teacher fee donations or “Dana”
for Ani Lodro or Jennifer Tyler. For those wanting guidelines
for teacher offerings, please read Guidelines for Offering Dana below
Full invitation and message from Ani and Jennifer
Message from Ani Lodro -
Dearest friends,
This year continues to unfold as a razor’s edge, as I walk the path of a Buddhist practitioner wondering if I will see my beloved root guru, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in his next human form while I am still here in mine.
I long also for any one of the many Bodhisattva teachers who have carried me this far- Jesus, Padmasamnhava, Guan Yin, Tara, Mahakala- all manifestations of Buddha and the Christ- to reach back and take my hand for my next step, and the next step after that, and so on. I ask them every day to continue to lead me, stay with me, make me one with them. (This is, in fact, the exact translation of some of the lines in the 100 syllable Vajrasattva mantra.)
This longing and desire to see their faces and be with them wherever they are doesn’t leave me anymore. An infatuation with the divine beings that lead us, is with me always. Devotion has become the compass and rudder I sail through this ocean of samsara with.
So it is not without challenges that I continue to try to do a good job as a human here. I recognize acutely that my decisions affect others. I want all those I serve to progress as painlessly and quickly as possible. I know that what I, we, believe, and the actions that come forth from what we believe, matter. And this becomes ever more obvious as we traverse the path as spiritual practitioners; because the more we evolve, the more responsible we become, and the more responsible we become, the more unyielding are our vows to become the very ones we look up to who help eliminate the suffering for others.
This topic I feel passionately about, which I will call- Liberation through Love and Devotion Everlasting- is, in my own experience, at the core of an opportunity for the swiftest transformation from ordinary humans to advanced spiritual beings. I believe it is a path that stretches us because it asks us to engage with humanity in the most selfless way, through the undying love we feel for those that have guided and even sacrificed for us. It asks us to have courage to fall in love, to defy our conditioning and beliefs, to be so vulnerable we are willing to make even a seeming ‘wrong’ decision from an intention to truly live as a bodhisattva. It asks us to reach for the utmost attainment- to merge with the very bodhisattvas we have fallen for- to realize we are the very ones we most cherish.
I believe this exemplifies the lives of Shakyamuni Buddha and Jesus of Nazareth. They both had enormous self-respect, dignity and self-confidence. They both lived in the wilderness and chose poverty even as they could have manifested unlimited wealth. They both renounced worldly concerns. They both undertook incredible hardships and had inconceivable devotion- devotion to the extent that others’ lives were more important then their own. They both could have lived out their human lives in the highest states of samadhi bliss. And they both made decisions that deferred their bliss, so that I, we, could feel relief from the burden of delusion and confusion.
I believe if we understand the depths of this level of love and compassion, we can cultivate this- be this- within our own selves. We can be self-cherishing, and see that others are just as worthy of cherishing. We can know ourselves, love ourselves, believe in ourselves, and do the same for all others. We can be as Jesus, as Buddha- in love, everlasting.
“For as long as infinite space and sentient beings exist, the compassion of the victorious ones and the actions of sentient beings continue without end. Those to be guided and enlightened guides manifest through inconceivable connections…
When the characters and dispositions of those to be guided are activated, the compassion of the guides arises, and the configurations of the realms and the dimensions of awakening appear; the miraculous methods of guiding others manifest beyond all bounds.”
———- From Jamgon Kongtrul’s “Treasury of Knowledge: Myriad Worlds” ———-
Tashi Delek,
Ani Lodro
Message from Jennifer Tyler -
I am very happy and grateful to be retreating at Vajra Vidya
when we are nearing the winter solstice and the celebrations of light.
It’s a rich and ripe opportunity to sink and deepen into
the “level of the heart”.
Where we are able to recognize and have the capacity to perceive and live from
Wholeness, Basic Goodness, Original uncaused Love.
Roaring, radiant Silence at the heart of Being.
From this profound stillness of the winter darkness there is the invitation to rest and give way. Surrender is a profound expression of loving kindness. To put down, give away the pretentious trance of separateness, (unlovability, unworthiness, unforgiveableness , not good enoughness) is the most benevolent act the “me” will ever do. It is an act of selfless love to become naked of the belief in a fundamentally separate self. It is the freedom to live as the “Image of your true nature”. It is the freedom to love.
As one begins the return to Love, the buried fragments of the unconscious will vividly surface. These fragments are seeking to be recognized, loved and returned home, surrendered, in the light of conscious awareness. In the light of Presence. In the Light of Love without cause.
The Grace is fierce on so many levels.
Many of us are being called by our souls to wake up. Wake up! Evolve! Wake up to our True nature. Wake up from the spell of separateness. While simultaneously, many others of us, are sinking into even deeper and deeper states of unconsciousness. Clinging to endless historical expressions of division as if our lives depended on it.
Collectively we are feeling the vulnerability of profound change and uncertainty.
Consequently, it may feel challenging to dive into the level of the heart at such a seemingly vulnerable time. However, realizing and awakening to the "heart of the matter" is the luminous solvent. Discovering the freedom to Love is the saving grace.
The Heart of the heart is never broken. And all the ascended masters, bodhisattvas, enlightened sages, angels throughout the Universe are way-showing and illuminating the heart’s path to Wholeness. No matter the display of seductive separateness, we can remember our birthright and align with the eternal place of origin that is infinitely more powerful than the limited view of division.
The Sacred Heart of Being burns within each of us as an eternal flame. It is not something we create, manufacture, imagine, earn or do. But we can become awakened to the uncaused Love at the Heart of Being. The Heart quickens and steers the compass of the soul to the sacred Divine. Original goodness, Courage, fierce- grace, compassion, belonging, interconnectedness, forgiveness, beauty, creativity, transformation, aliveness.........
exist right here and now as the Original Image of Existence.
Waiting to be realized and illuminated through/from/AS
our uniquely divine, individual lives.
Partially excerpted from the course:
“Awakening to the Heart of Being. Finding the Freedom to Love”
Jennifer Tyler, fullcirclefamily.us
Good is come among you pursuing its own essence within nature in order to reunite everything to its origin. Attachment to matter gives birth to passion without an Image of itself because it is drawn from that which is contrary to its higher nature. The result is that confusion and disturbance resonates throughout one’s whole being. It is for this reason that I told you find contentment at the level of the heart and if you are discouraged take heart in the presence of the Image of your true nature.
—Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene
On the journey or the warrior-bodhisattva, the path goes down, not up, as if the mountain pointed toward the earth instead of the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we move toward turbulence and doubt however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away.
If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our own pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down.
With us move millions of others, our companions in awakening from fear.
At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhicitta.
Bodhicitta is our heart-our wounded, softened heart. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die.
This love is bodhicitta. It is gentle and warm; it is clear and sharp; it is open and spacious. The awakened heart of bodhicitta is the basic goodness of all being.
—Pema Chodron
Guidelines for offering Dana, the practice of generosity
Guidelines for Offering Dana
According to the Buddha, generosity is one of the central practices of a spiritual life. In the act of giving, we develop our ability to let go of attachment, cultivate an attitude of open sharing, and acknowledge the interconnectedness of all beings. The Buddha taught the practice of dana whereby those who share the teachings are dependent on those who receive them. It is the practice of dana that has kept the Buddhist tradition alive for more than 2,600 years in Asia, where committed supporters have given generously to establish monasteries and retreat centers, and provide for teachers and practitioners.
At Vajra Vidya we are carrying on this joyful tradition in the form of inviting donations from the community to our precious teachers, so that teachers can continue to offer the Dharma. Although the value of the teachings is immeasurably precious, we make our offerings as generous as possible while respecting our own financial well being.
For the upcoming retreat, there will be an opportunity to make dana offerings at the end of each retreat to Jennifer Tyler and Ani Lodro with a white scarf called a khata, which represents pure mind. Dana can also be offered directly to the teachers through Paypal, check, or cash.
Many find it helpful to be offered guidelines for this traditional Buddhist practice. Vajra Vidya suggests a range of $20 – $60 per day of any given retreat. For example, if your retreat is three calendar days, then you might offer between $60-$180 to the teacher as an expression of your appreciation for the teachings. If a retreat has more than one teacher, you may split that amount between each teacher or offer more to each if you are able. There is no set amount for dana, and your dana offering should always consider your individual capacity. All donations are accepted gratefully and sincerely.