Meditation Retreat One: Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Bön Dzogchen

This meditation retreat is based on the ancient Tibetan Bön Atri teachings of Dzogchen and gives an authentic transmission in the teacher student tradition from the Lama to the participants. It provides a complete overview of the entire path to full liberation as well as instruction in the essential aspects of Tibetan Buddhist meditation.

The Tibetan Bön model of Dzogchen presented in this retreat provides a complete set of teachings to experience the nature of Mind and its relationship to ourselves and the world around us. The view that is taught is that we are all part of an interconnected, timeless and locationless flow of information. This process must be experienced directly otherwise we stray into a myriad of conceptual constructs of ever-increasing complexity.  This training steps students through the skills that ultimately, to the best of practitioners, leads to liberation.  

In this retreat students are presented with detailed instructions on both Foundational and Concentration Practices designed to both establish the necessary conditions and develop a calm and serviceable mind. Using explanation, metaphor, practice and active feedback, students will develop the essential skills and qualities necessary for practice. Students will be methodically stepped through the foundational practices of Atri Dzogchen that serve to prepare the mind and body to meditate. In order to have the right view of mind and body, we need both to recognise our own motivations and aspirations and cultivate the positive qualities that shift our mind from survival to exploration mode. 

These practices serve to ripen the mind and establish the qualities of safety, trust, interest, admiration and motivation. Students will be precisely instructed in methods designed to cultivate the qualities of mind conducive to practise. It is important to point out that “foundational” does not mean “lesser” and that these foundational practices of Dzogchen are a complete practice of the spiritual path that advanced practitioners continue to cultivate.

After establishing these essential qualities of mind, students will be presented with detailed instructions in developing concentration. Concentration, or directly translated from Tibetan as “staying-calming/calm abiding”, are core practices that focus on an external or internal object to develop mental stability. These practices are designed to make the mind “serviceable” with a skilled concentrator able to focus his or her mind on any intended object of concentration for as long as needed without any distraction whatsoever. It is to be emphasised that a carefully concentrated mind forms the very ground on which all other meditation practices are developed; without which, our mind will continue to stray in all forms of distraction.

Experience has shown that students who approach their practice with genuine patience, trust and perseverance develop steadily and gift themselves the opportunity to gently open to the heart essence of these profound lineage teachings.

This retreat shares a complete set of foundational teachings from the A Krid (pronounced “Atri”) Lineage of Tibetan Bön Dzogchen; a one-thousand-year-old compendium of the middle path to liberation in Bön. This text is the gateway to a series of expanded texts that refine the skills that ultimately lead to full awareness of mind.

Chapters 1-5 covered from the text: ‘The Pith Instructions for the Stages of the Practice Sessions of the A-Tri (A Khrid) System of Bön Dzogchen Meditation’.

This text is available for purchase here and will be available for pick up at the beginning of the retreat.