Longchenpa Retreat and Ceremony

The downpour of (the Buddha’s) truth, the refreshing water of pristine cognitions
With clouds of glorious bliss and happiness and prosperity,
Will fall on the pure mind of living beings, the fertile
soil of a unique occasion and the right juncture.
Therefore, with joy and from your heart engage in the
quest for the real meaning of life, straight away! 

-Longchenpa, Kindly Bent to Ease Us 

The retreat program, led by Arnaud Maitland, will offer an intensive verse-by-verse study of excerpts from Longchenpa’s text Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Vol. I chapters 1-7, culminating in a 4-day ceremony or puja of chanting. The Longchenpa Ceremony, practiced during this time by Nyingma students all over the world, commemorates the parinirvana of Longchenpa.

The all-knowing Longchenpa (1308-1364) stands at the center of the Nyingma tradition. Acknowledged by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism as one of Tibet’s greatest masters, he wrote works that cover every aspect of the Buddhist path. His writings, in clear and luminous prose, have the power to awaken our own innermost knowing and inspire us to act on the knowledge we already have.

As we investigate human nature and the functioning of mind, we naturally begin to wonder who we really are and how can we return to the wholeness of our being? As these questions become meaningful, we discover that Longchenpa, the ‘all knowing’ master, gives us the answers we seek at the level we presently occupy. 

When we need explanations, he offers them. When we need to satisfy the questions posed by ordinary mind, he offers conventional truths. When we ask how to wake up, he gives us the necessary practices. In practicing these teachings, we can unite with Longchenpa. The great master invites us home, embodying the best human potential, accessible to each one of us. 

The Schedule for the Retreat will be as follows:

6:00 - 7:00       Preliminary Practices (optional)

7:00 - 8:00       Kum Nye Meditation

8:00 - 9:00       Breakfast

10:00 - 11:15    Session I: Text Discussion and Meditation

11:15 - 11:30    Break

11:30 - 12:30    Session II: Text Discussion and Meditation

12:30 - 1:30      Lunch

2:00 - 4:00       Work Practice with Dharma Texts

4:00 - 4:30       Break

4:30 - 6:00       Session III: Text Discussion and Meditation

6:00 - 7:00       Dinner

7:45 - 9:00       Session IV: Meditation, Mantra and Visualization

Reading Kindly Bent to Ease Us offers a taste of the beauty that Longchenpa makes available. The text gives a sense of how Longchenpa encourages the reader to start the journey on the path. During the retreat, we will reference Volumes 1 and 2 of Kindly Bent to Ease Us.

Translated and published by Dharma Publishing, Now That I Come to Die, Longchenpa's last teaching offers heartfelt advice to his closest disciples on how to make the teachings a path of transformation. Please read this intimate guidance from one of Tibet's greatest masters with an introduction by Tarthang Tulku prior to the retreat.

Save 50% off the list price of Kindly Bent to Ease Us and Now that I Come to Die when you register for the Longchenpa Retreat, and start your study early!

The Longchenpa Retreat and Ceremony will be led by Arnaud Maitland, JD, MA in Buddhist Psychology and Philosophy, and a senior student of Tarthang Tulku for over 30 years. An international lecturer, retreat leader, Nyingma teacher, meditation instructor and Skillful Means consultant, Arnaud Maitland brings the ancient teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Nyingma lineage into the mainstream of contemporary culture and life. Maitland is currently director of Dharma Publishing and Center for Skillful Means and the author of MasterWork - Mastering Time (2000; 2nd pr; translated into 2 languages) and Living without Regret (2006) (5th pr; translated into 5 languages). 

Retreat fee: $1490 (Room & board included)

We hope you will join us in this exploration of human potential by sharing in the experience of the Longchenpa Retreat and Ceremony. 

Many Blessings,

The Dharma Publishing Staff

Tarthang Tulku describes the great master, Longchenpa in his forward from Now That I Come to Die:

Those who take a religious view toward life may look for God; those who take a philosophical view may look for truth. Still others may look for love. Whatever they look for – whatever you look for – that is Longchenpa. Externally he expresses the blessings of the enlightened lineage. Internally, nothing is left: just the naked, perfect quality of enlightenment. However deeply Longchenpa’s accomplishments, realizations, and legacy are revered, there is still more to comprehend about why Kunkyen Longchenpa holds such a central place within the Nyingma School. It may be best to say simply that Longchenpa united and perfected in himself all aspects of the enlightened lineages. In mastery of the Sutrayana, he was the equal of Nagarjuna; in mastery of the shastra tradition he was like the six great masters of India; in mastery of the Mantrayana, he was the equal of all the Vidyadharas of the Vajrayana; and in mastery of meditation he was the equal of the great sage Milarepa. He was an honored scholar but also a great siddha, who preferred to dwell in sacred places and mountain caves and celebrated in his writings the beauty of untamed nature.

Lonchenpa maintained the perfect discipline of the Great Arhats, and in his actions he so fully exemplified the practice of the Bodhisattvas that he might be regarded as the equal of Avalokiteshvara himself. Terton (treasure finder), pandita, visionary practitioner – Longchenpa is the greatest example of the accomplishments that the Atiyoga lineage offers. His life story offers profound inspiration to all who reflect on it, for it reveals what it is like to live as a perfect master of the teachings. At the age of fifty-six, having mastered the Dharma realms in the same way a chakravartin king becomes sovereign of the entire world, Longchenpa announced that he had achieved what he had set out to do in this life. Before entering parinirvana, he urged his students to prepare themselves well, taking full advantage of the opportunities that life offers for escaping the bonds of samsara. On January 24, 1364 the master passed into parinirvana. The earth shook several times, and although it was mid-winter, flowers spontaneously erupted and blossomed In his teachings, Longchenpa placed a special emphasis on impermanence. With a few well chosen words and the example of his own life, Longchenpa shows how things arise and pass away, revealing that the truth of enlightenment is always at hand. He reminds us that being aware of constant change and the shortness of life is a complete teaching in itself, encouraging us to maximize our time and energy while we still can. Furthermore he constantly advised his students that birth as a human being is rare and precious.

Human beings are in fortunate circumstances, for they can practice with all their energy and all their hearts, studying in depth the nature of human awareness. Always reminding his students that intellectual and conceptual knowledge cannot penetrate to the level of enlightenment, Longchenpa teaches that we can see this for ourselves only after understanding how the mind works. Longchenpa’s style of writing is profound and striking and his insights in the realm of philosophy, psychology, and practice help us gain direct access to the enlightened realm. In his own life and actions he set in motion a dynamic that can penetrate the rigid patterns of our mind, helping us transcend limitations.