Saturday, February 20th and Sunday February 21st
10am - 5pm BOTH DAYS
Offering the Noble Mandala practice is the third section of the Ngondro. It is a swift way of accumulating merit and wisdom. This essentail practice is a continuation of the Ngondro and Three Year Retreat Experience Group. Please come if you are a member of the group. If you would like to join this group, permission is required from Lama Sonam, (617) 642-0060.
Live Streaming
Live streaming will be available only to those who will not be able to be physically present and to those who are already a member
of the Ngondro Group. Please register as usual and let us know
before the retreat. Thank you.
About the Ngondro
The Ngondro (or the Four Ordinary and Extraordinary Preliminaries) are special methods for purifying karma and for accumulating merit and wisdom. They are a pre-requisite for performing all high tantric practices and for preparing the mind for meditation.
About the Special Opportunity and Three Year Retreat Experience Group
Finish all four sections of the Ngondro in just two years by participating in this group accumulation practice in six-month intervals. This could normally take over a decade to complete. Through Lama Sonam's compassion everyone will finish in two years. All participants will receive a special certificate of completion. Because of their powerful, transformative ability Lama Sonam has given this shortcut to completing this otherwise extremely time consuming set of practices. After the Ngondro, the group will continue to do the practices that are traditionally done in retreat.
Out of the deepest loving-kindness and compassion, Lama Sonam has created a way for us to gain some experience of three year retreat by joining this group. This is an amazing way for us, who are unable to put our lives on hold for that length of time, to have this experience.
The greater the participation, the greater the collective accumulations of the practice.
"This is the best offering to you that I can give. Please take this seriously. No matter where you live, you can participate. Even if you cannot do it physically, you can still participate. If you complete it, you will not fall into the lower realms." -Lama Konchok Sonam
Schedule for Saturday, February 20 AND Sunday, February 21, 2016
9am Open for registration etc.
10am Retreat begins
Noon Vegetarian lunch provided
2pm Retreat continues
5pm Completion of retreat and dedication of merit
Ngondro Two Year Cycle Schedule
January 2015 1st Section: Refuge (Completed)
July 2015 2nd Section: Vajrasattva (Completed)
February 2016 3rd Section: Offering the Noble Mandala
August 2016 4th Section: Guru Yoga
Venerable Lama Konchok Sonam is the Spiritual Director of the Drikung Meditation Center in Arlington, MA. Born in Lhasa, Tibet, he began his Buddhist training when young. At the age of 18, Lama Sonam took full ordination and became a monk. He then went on to complete a retreat on Ngondro (Common and Extraordinary Preliminaries) and the Five-Fold Path of Mahamudra. Lama Sonam received teachings and blessings from more than twenty-five great masters and is knowledgable on all aspects of the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. In 2003, upon Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche's request, Lama Sonam arrived in Boston to be the Resident Lama of the Drikung Meditation Center. In the fall of 2005, Lama Sonam became the Spiritual Director and started the Jowo Rinpoche Statue Project to benefit the Boston area, the United States, and the world. He began to realize his vision of bringing the blessings of Buddhism from the East to the United States by creating a pilgrimage site. Arriving in May of 2008, the centerpiece of the pilgrimage site is an eight foot tall gilded, jewel-encrusted bronze, the U.S. Jowo Rinpoche Statue. Lama Sonam continues to realize his vision. His next goal is the purchase of a building for the pilgrimage site and temple.