Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Chaz
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Chaz »

conebeckham wrote:more ngondro.
There's always the possibility that after spending years completing Ngondro that the Guru may simply send you back to do it it all over again - build a tower, tear it down, build another.

I've also heard of those who after "finishing" Ngondro continue doing it as their main practice. I can see how that might happen.
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Jangchup Donden
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Jangchup Donden »

Namdrol wrote:
ronnewmexico wrote:Relatedly

N..which version of Millarepa do you know or suppose as true..as sourcerer or not.

I'd guess not but am no scholor.

Read Peter Allen Roberts' book on the bios of Rechungpa.

The standard bio of Milarepa by Tsang Nyon Heruka, is quite late and stands a number of facts on their head when it is compared to bios composed by Gampopa, and so on (for example, Milarepa's mother is never mentioned, his father was alive, there was no evil Aunt and Uncle, etc. ).

Basically, Roberts tracks all of the hagiographies of Mila in an effort to find out why Mila's main student, Rechungpa, and only complete lineage holder, was turned into an example of the "bad student" par excellence by generations of Kagyu monastics.
Was Rechungpa a non-monastic?
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

From now on, I'm not settling for less than 100,000 of anything. Once you get used to it, the usual quantities just aren't quite as fulfilling. Money, pizza, love, whatever...serve it up on a three - tiered platter with extra onions!
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Silent Bob »

100,000 is just enough to get warmed up.
"All the sublime teachings, so profound--to throw away one and then grab yet another will not bear even a single fruit. Persevere, therefore, in simply one."
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Malcolm »

Jangchup Donden wrote:
Was Rechungpa a non-monastic?
Indeed.
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Arnoud »

Aren't Rechungpa's lineages only found in Drukpa Kagyu these days?

As for after Ngondro practice, I think you will find many different answers. It also depends on which Kagyu branch you belong to.
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conebeckham
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by conebeckham »

Rechungpa's lineages are found in the Drukpa, but there are practices coming from Rechungpa in the Karma Kagyu, and in the Surmang branch as well. Gyalwa Gyamtso, for example, is Rechung's lineage.....and Surmang maintains Rechung Nyengyu Demchok.....just to name a couple.
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Chaz
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Chaz »

mindyourmind wrote:what are your plans after ngondro?
Go to Disneyland!!!!!!!

Sorry....couldn't pass it up.
J-Bird
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by J-Bird »

Does it really end?
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Grigoris
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Grigoris »

Jangchup Donden wrote:Was Rechungpa a non-monastic?
Here's his biography for all those interested

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9844773/Rechung ... graphy.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
rechungpa3.jpg
rechungpa3.jpg (63.85 KiB) Viewed 7635 times
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Jangchup Donden
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Jangchup Donden »

gregkavarnos wrote:
Jangchup Donden wrote:Was Rechungpa a non-monastic?
Here's his biography for all those interested

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9844773/Rechung ... graphy.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
rechungpa3.jpg
:namaste:
Cooool. :)
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by username »

Gampopa vs. Rechungpa, ah what could have been? More quantities vs. more quality (as Gampopa's lineage has produced numerous quality enlightened cases too as well as setting large numbers on the advanced stages of the path), institutionalization vs. magical ones, safety & steadiness vs. unpredictability ... No reason both couldn't have flourished. As to the OP, in numerous unimaginable ways, karmic and otherwise, tummo has said it all.
Dzogchen masters I know say: 1)Buddhist religion essence is Dzogchen 2)Religions are positive by intent/fruit 3)Any method's OK unless: breaking Dzogchen vows, mixed as syncretic (Milanese Soup) 4)Don't join mandalas of opponents of Dalai Lama/Padmasambhava: False Deity inventors by encouraging victims 5)Don't debate Ati with others 6)Don't discuss Ati practices online 7) A master told his old disciple: no one's to discuss his teaching with some others on a former forum nor mention him. Publicity's OK, questions are asked from masters/set teachers in person/email/non-public forums~Best wishes
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Dhondrub »

mindyourmind wrote:For the Mahamudra practitioners here :

what are your plans after ngondro?
Get drunk, dont take a shower for days and grow a beard?

Well, I intend to follow the command of my Guru. And sorry to say but in many cases after the Ngöndro is before the Ngöndro.
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by florin »

i am trying hard to get to the point where there is life after ngondro.

but at the moment life after ngondro is pure fiction. : :smile:
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Chaz »

alpha wrote:i am trying hard to get to the point where there is life after ngondro.

but at the moment life after ngondro is pure fiction. : :smile:

I can certainly relate to that ....

The completion of my practice is far enough in the future, that to think of that is to consider fiction. The way I see it it, I may never finish. I don't see myself stopping the practice, either. It's just going to take a long time - a really long time.

I think I'm ok with that.

Hell, it may be that when I do manage to "finish" Ngondro I may continue doing it afterwards. I really like the pracice. I feel like I have a pretty solid connection to it. So, it may be that Ngondro has become my main practice for the forseeable future.

So, for some of us, there may not be an "after Ngondro".
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Jangchup Donden
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Jangchup Donden »

alpha wrote:i am trying hard to get to the point where there is life after ngondro.

but at the moment life after ngondro is pure fiction. : :smile:
I found that ngöndro really starts to speed up after you finish prostrations. Also, making sure you practice every day (even if only 3 prostrations) means you will get through it!
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Grigoris
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Grigoris »

Sey Rinpoche, Drukpa Kagyu http://www.seyrinpoche.org/biography.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , asks his students to do ngondro up to seven times before he allows them to enter the three year retreat.
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Willy
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Willy »

I finished the ngondro in 2004. We started doing some really secret stuff after that...

No just kidding. Most of my friends who finished, as well as myself, were given a guru yoga on the 8th Karmapa. Someone said vajrayogini a.k.a "red wisdom" earlier, and that's pretty much what it is. Dakinis of each disturbing emotion purify you first, and then you become red wisdom with chakrasamvara "highest bliss" in your heart - then you say some seed syallables and some mantras. It could be a yidam practice if we did a 6 month retreat. We still call it yidam in a slang kind of way though.

As exciting as that may sound I have opted to do a second ngondro. I was not explicitly told to do it, but was in a room full of practitioners who finished ngondro and we were all told to do it. This time slower - over 13 years, instead of 7.

I am going really slow this time around, but have finished my 2nd round of prostrations, and will continue to do 108 prostrations for the rest of my life - If I am so lucky to be healthy till the end. The goal oriented nature of meditation has changed for me.

What supported me the most in completing the ngondro was to have friends do it together. There were about a dozen of us in NYC at the time. We met every saturday afternoon and did 4-6 hours together. We met for retreats, and we did Dorje Sempa on Thursday nights together for an hour. Having friends do it together, and seeing others complete it makes it more in reach.

Anyone here who thinks they can't finish the ngondro just give me a call - and I'll let you know that you can do it!
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by ngodrup »

Another cycle of ngondro, a different ngondro, three roots, dzogchen....
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Re: Mahamudra : What do you plan to do after ngondro?

Post by Kai »

mindyourmind wrote:For the Mahamudra practitioners here :

what are your plans after ngondro?

There is such a bewildering array of possibilities to choose from (or be instructed in), what do you intend to follow, and why?
More ngondro.........in a way, there is no escape as ngondro is inbuilt into many deity sadhanas and the preliminary portions of most generation stage practices. It has great benefits as well. Which Buddhists, in the world, don't want more merits?
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