Sangha Journeys

03/08/2024

Now Open! "
Pilgrimage to Nyingma & Dudjom Destinations in Central Tibet. " October 14 - 28, 2024. Since 2009, Sangha Journeys has organized over 20 pilgrimages to Central, Western, and Eastern Tibet. We partner with Woeser Phel in Lhasa to handle your ground arrangements and have Pema Tsering as your expert guide. I’m here to help with your China visa, international travel advice, healthcare tips, and fundraising for your journey. Learn about the pilgrimage destinations on our website

Small Group pilgrimage Oct 14-28 2024

09/07/2024

Sangha Journeys is ready to travel to Tibet this Fall! Interested? If you’re ready, almost ready, or just considering a pilgrimage to Tibet, I would be delighted to discuss it with you. The good weather window is mid-September to mid-November. - https://mailchi.mp/jnanasukha/2024-pilgrimage-launch

13/06/2024

05/05/2024

New Email Channel & Website Pages about Lhasa, Nearby, & Ancient Guge! - https://mailchi.mp/3ad27245c64a/new-email-channel —Peace, Woeser.

18/03/2024

15/02/2024

Thank you, Jnanasukha Foundation donors 😍

Thrilled to share this NEW biography of Dudjom Rinpoche Jidgel Yeshe Dorje

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Dudjom-Rinpoche/10019

by Dr. Joseph McClellan

Dudjom Rinpoche was born in Pemako, southeastern Tibet. His father was Khengen Tulku, a son of a king of Pemako named Kanam Depa who traced his ancestry back to central Tibetan kings.

Two lamas, Ling Lama Chojor Gyatso and Puktrul Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo identified him as a reincarnation of their teacher, the prominent eastern-Tibetan treasure revealer Dudjom Lingpa (1835–1904), whose revelations form the basis of the Dudjom Tersar tradition. Dudjom Lingpa had, in the last decades of his life, expressed a strong desire to move to Pemako—an isolated and idyllic region on the border of eastern Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh, and Burma—and his hagiographies claim that he discussed his aspiration in a correspondence with a nun there—a daughter of King Kanam Depa named Ani Nangsel. In his final years, Dudjom Lingpa is said to have exhorted his students to move to Pemako, saying that he too would go there.

According to Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal's biography of Dudjom Rinpoche, before Lama Chojor Gyatso and the party from eastern Tibet came to find the young Dudjom, now a toddler, he told his parents to prepare to receive guests. When they arrived, he greeted them warmly by name in his odd accent that had always puzzled the Pemako natives, but which was later explained as a remnant of his previous incarnation's Golok accent.

This peer-reviewed biography was made possible through support of the Jnanasukha Foundation

10/02/2024

Wood Dragon energy is here! Happy Losar! Here's a prayer written by Mipham Rinpoche in the Wood Dragon Year of 1904 to welcome the Wood Dragon:

Hung! By the power of mantras and mudras of the Three Jewels and Three Roots, may all the good omens, abundance, and prosperity of the animate and inanimate universes within existence and quiescence, summoned here and gathered here, expand without ever decreasing.
ཧཱུྂ། མཆོག་གསུམ་རྩ་གསུམ་སྔགས་དང་ཕྱག་བརྒྱའི་མཐུས། ། བརྟན་གཡོ་སྲིད་ཞིའི་ཕྱྭ་གཡང་དགེ་མཚན་ཀུན། ། འདིར་ཁུག་འདིར་བསྡུས་འཕེལ་རྒྱས་མི་ནུབ་པར། ། བདེ་སྐྱིད་བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལེགས་ཚོགས་དཔལ་འབར་ཤོག ། ཤིང་འབྲུག་ཟླ༡༠ཚེས་༦ལ་དྷཱིས་སོ།། ༎

06/02/2024

The Wood Dragon is on the way, bringing a year of transformation, growth, and adaptability. Sounds like what the doctor ordered, right?
In preparing for the traditional New Year pujas on Zoom, I’ve been thinking about our times and Guru Rinpoche’s. Although he lived in an intellectually and spiritually fertile time, the political climate was far from peaceful. He encountered considerable hostility and ideological intolerance. But he did not see this negatively as a problem! Recognizing the circumstances to be nothing in themselves, he saw an opportunity to be of great benefit, and the rest is history, lucky for us!
Meditational deities, such as Vajrakilaya and Lake Born Vajra, are an inherent aspect of our subtle bodies and present reality. We're already living in their immediacy. We don’t have to create anything. Only awaken! The trajectory of our life this year will evolve out of this potential.
Please comment here or, better still, email [email protected] to receive the New Year Losar practice schedule and links. Would love to see you and support each other spiritually in welcoming the timely arrival of the Wood Dragon!😀

31/12/2023

We’re in the last moments of fundraising for 2024. If it feels right for you, please send a dana offering (link below). Since 2002, Jnanasukha Foundation has made available the paths of Yeshe Tsogyal and the Dudjom New Treasures and offered grants to kindred organizations. Thank you. https://www.jnanasukha.org

28/12/2023

24/12/2023

Matching 100% thru 12/25. Small gifts make an IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE. Thank you. https://www.jnanasukha.org

21/12/2023

Can you believe it's already the tail-end of 2023, Jnanasukha’s 21st anniversary year? I’m excited to announce that the Year-End Giving Portal is now open! And even better? We have a matching gift opportunity through December 25th. The site will keep you abreast of fundraising progress, and you can check out the Foundation's latest projects, such as two new Dudjom tradition biographies published on Treasury of Lives, a remarkable yak release video in eastern Tibet, and Lama's efforts preparing the Life of Yeshe Tsogyal mural images for publication. Thank you for supporting the presence of Yeshe Tsogyal and the Dudjom New Treasures in the modern world and for more grants to kindred organizations in the New Year. Please visit www.jnanasukha.org

28/11/2023

Thrilled to share a very special initiative for ! Visit www.givingdharmatuesday.com to practice the paramita of generosity and download a unique image I created from the Yeshe Tsogyal murals in Tibet. Short on time? Text offerdana to 801808, and after processing, you'll be directed to the image download page. Thank you, everyone! 🙏 . Did you know you can save yaks! Www.givingdharmatuesday.com

28/11/2023

Thrilled to share a very special initiative for ! Visit www.givingdharmatuesday.com to practice the paramita of generosity and download a unique image I created from the Yeshe Tsogyal murals in Tibet. Short on time? Text offerdana to 801808, and after processing, you'll be directed to the image download page. Thank you, everyone! 🙏 . Did you know you can save yaks!

27/11/2023

At Dudjom Lamaling, Kongpo. October 2023.

27/11/2023

Jnanasukha Foundation's Giving Dharma Tuesday is here on November 28th – the first of two annual fundraisers that shape 2024. Download Dharma gifts for everyone who drops by our special website! https://www.givingdharmatuesday.com.
Did I mention the website will announce a very special initiative that I know you'll love? Please mark your calendar for November 28th. Let's do this together!

25/11/2023

https://www.givingdharmatuesday.com goes live on Tuesday, November 28th. See you there! —Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo

01/10/2023

དཔལ་ཆེན་ཁྲོ་བོ་དབུ་དགུ Chemchok Heruka Mountain in Nangchen (Kham). This is the treasure site where Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa discovered the earth terma of Tukdrup Barché Künsel. It is also one of the twenty-five holy places of Eastern Tibet.

ཐུགས་སྒྲུབ་བར་ཆད་ཀུན་སེལ་ Tukdrup Barché Kunsel is a joint terma revelation of the two great tertöns Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokgyur Lingpa, consisting of about ten volumes of texts, from which the famous prayer Barché Lamsel is extracted. Tukdrub means 'heart practice,' barché künsel means 'dispeller of all obstacles'.

12/09/2023

NEW!!! Confirmed pilgrimage Oct/Nov 2023. Itinerary at-a-glance (3 Spaces Left) Email [email protected].

Day 1: Oct 25: Fly Chengdu to Linzhi, Buchu Tergyi Lhakhang, Linzhi Hotel
Day 2: Oct 26: Dudjom Lamaling, Linzhi Hotel
Day 3: Oct 27: Draksum Lake, Tsodzong Dudjom Hermitage Guesthouse
Day 4: Oct 28: Katsel, Terdrom Zhoto Tidero, Shambhala Hotel
Day 5: Oct 29: Terdrom Zhoto Tidrom, optional 10-hour hike to Kiri Yangdzong, Shambhala Hotel
Day 6, Oct 30: Drak Yerpa Caves, Lhasa Hotel
Days 7 and 8: Oct 31 & Nov 1: Lhasa - Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Ramoche Temple, Lukhang Temple, Barkhor, and, if time permits, Norbulingka. Lhasa Hotel
Day 9, Nov 2: Tsogyal Latso, New Samye Hotel
Day 10, Nov 3: Samye Temples, New Samye Hotel
Day 11, Nov 4: Chimphu, New Samye Hotel
Day 12, Nov 5: Mindrolling, optional exit Gongkar Airport flight to Chengdu
Day 12, Nov 5: Mindrolling, Yamdrok Yutsu Lake, Karola Glacier, Gyantse Kubum (if time), Shigatse Hotel
Day 13, Nov 6: Shang Zabbulung Yeshe Tsogyal Enlightenment Cave, and if time permits, Zabbulung Monastery, Namling Hotel
Day 14, Nov 7: Exit Shigatse airport flight to Chengdu.

Email [email protected]. Thank you.

12/09/2023

The Guidebook of Xuanzang is a famous guidebook, written by the intrepid Chinese Buddhist monk and explorer in the 7th century. It only became available in Tibet in the 18th century.

It was translated by Gonpokyab, and since its translation, has become very popular among Tibetans as indeed it has become around the world.

Xuanzang describes an epic pilgrimage across a swath of the globe, traversing from Xian all the way through the deserts of Central Asia and through the heart of India.

It is his descriptions of Nalanda University that have helped us understand the importance and the significance of Nalanda before its destruction.

Check out the guidebook in our open-access archive.
http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW8LS26573

06/09/2023

Lamyig: The Tibetan Books of Living and Traveling

One of the most interesting genres of Tibetan Buddhist literature is the lamyig text, the travel guide, or more appropriately the pilgrimage guide (a subset of lamyig, called the neyig). These travel and pilgrimage guides are not only the most accessible and useful of texts to a wide variety of read...

06/09/2023

The most important of all caves at Chimphu, Drakmar Ke'u Tsang (brag dmar ke-u tshang) Red Rock's Cavern, the primary site of Guru Rinpoche’s Speech in Central Tibet. This is where he bestowed his first empowerment to eight disciples, that of the Eight Saadhans of the Herukas, Drubpa Kagye. This event marked the formal establishment of Secret Mantra in Tibet. Today, a two-story temple encloses the cave.

This is also where Guru Rinpoche temporarily resuscitated Princess Pemasel, the King's daughter who had died suddenly. On that occasion, he entrusted her with the Dakini Heart Essence (Khandro Nyingthik), later revealed by her rebirth in the 13th century as Pema Ledretsel. There is a flagstone bearing the imprint of the Princess's body. Before leaving, pilgrims are usually rubbed with a heavy black stone on their shoulders and transported from Cool Grove charnel ground in India.

Livestream to Chimphu on Sept 10: https://donorbox.org/events/489700

03/09/2023

NEW! Private Livestream from Chimphu Mountain Hermitage
Central Tibet, September 10, 6 PM - 7:30 PM PST (UTC/GMC-8). Info and Tickets https://donorbox.org/events/489700. Video recording will be available for download.

02/09/2023

https://www.bdrc.io/blog/2023/08/31/the-tibetan-books-of-living-and-traveling/

One of the most interesting genres of Tibetan Buddhist literature is the lamyig text, the travel guide, or more appropriately the pilgrimage guide (a subset of lamyig, called the neyig). These travel and pilgrimage guides are not only the most accessible and useful of texts to a wide variety of read...

21/08/2023

https://www.sanghajourneys.com
Dear Friends,
Sacred places appear to benefit beings. They can be sourced in legend, or perhaps great masters once lived there, important treasures were revealed there, or their landscapes represent deity mandalas. Whatever! My point is there are innumerable such powerful places of blessings in Tibet!
Moreover, their spiritual energy resonates through time. On reaching them, without explanation, you may have special experiences that change your life and unlock your Dharma path.
The pilgrimages of Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal all over the Tibetan Himalaya shaped the very essence of their teachings. Later, many great masters undertook arduous pilgrimages and wrote guides for the future. And, the Tibetan people themselves—despite great difficulties, have persisted in their pilgrimage practices. Now, we are also making these transformative journeys!

The brand-new Sangha Journeys website is your gateway to exploring pilgrimage routes, photo galleries, and educational place descriptions. Even if pilgrimage isn't on your horizon at the moment, I still encourage you to make a connection with the website to learn about these amazing places. It brings joy!

Leaving Chengdu mid-October! Small groups to Lhasa and Central Tibet, Kailash and Guge, and Kham and Amdo in Eastern Tibet!
Everything can be customized—your places, your dates, this year or next, group or individual! Please join the email list in the website footer. I’ll let you know when my pilgrimage blogs publish. Or, send me a message on the Contact page.

That’s it! Hope you can feel how happy I am to reopen the pilgrimage track! Tashi Delek! —Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo https://www.sanghajourneys.com

18/08/2023

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Yilhung-Sonam-Namgyel/11428

Yilhungpa Sonam Namgyel was a layman who attained the rainbow body in the early 1950s. Although he lived an ordinary life in his youth, even hunting animals, later in life he received Dzogchen teachings from Yakze Terton Garwang Tekchok Lingpa and the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche and practiced meditation secretly at night before taking up residence in caves around the Manigango area of Kham, where he also carved mantras and buddha images in stone. Following his death in 1952/53 his body shrank. After a week only his hair and nails remained, and the tent was filled with rainbow-colored light. This attainment of the so-called rainbow body was confirmed by senior lamas in Kham and has since been reported many times.

15/08/2023

NEW BIO BY Prof. Stéphane Arguillère

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Gonpo-Wanggyel/13817

Gonpo Wanggyel (1845 - 1915), son-in-law and main heir of Khordong Techen Nuden Dorje, was born in the Trehor region of Kham. He was a Nyingma master specialized in the Northern Treasures and the revelations of Khordong Techen. It was under his leadership that the Khordong Monastery expanded and became a major center of the Northern Treasures in eastern Tibet. He was himself a terton, with the essence of his revelations continuing the movement already found in Khordong Terchen of synthesizing visionary Dzogchen and Chod. His principal disciple and biographer was his son Tulku Tsullo.