Richard Denner
RIDHARD DENNER, AKA JAMPA DORJE, COMPLETED A TRADITIONAL TIBETAN BUDDHIST THREE-YEAR RETREAT AT TARA MANDALA RETREAT CENTER, WHICH IS LOCATED NEAR PAGOSA SPRINGS, COLORADO, IN THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. FOR MORE ABOUT TARA MANDALA AND JAMPA'S RETREAT GO TO www.taramandala.org
HERE ARE EXCERPTS FROM "A BOOK FROM LUMINOUS PEAK."
"...When I came to Pagosa Springs in the mid-nineties to run Tara Mandala's fledgling bookstore, I took "Dujom's Extracting the Essence of Accomplishment," a teaching preparatory to a dharma mountain retreat. Before I was able to begin a three-year retreat, I was called to go to California and care for my elderly parents. Ten years passed.
By the time I returned to Tara Mandala, Lama Tsultrim had been recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdrön. She asked Tulku Sang-ngag if there was a practice with Machig as the yidam. There is - "The Exceedingly Secret Heart Essence of the Dakini" - a practice that is part of a cycle of practices called Dzinpa Rangdröl, which is a complete path to realization, and he had transmission of this mind terma of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje's from the great Dilgo Khyentse.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect. My dear friend, Beth Lee-Herbert, and I needed a retreat master, and Tulku Sang-ngag became our spiritual friend. How lucky can you get? We not only had one Lama to guide us, with Lama Tsultrim, we had two, as well as two khenpos, Khenpo Ugyen Wangchuck and Khenpo Sonam. On January 6, 2009, during a blizzard, Lama Gyurme sealed me into LuminousPeak for my long sought three-year retreat.
Tulku Sang-ngag guided us every step of the way. There are claims of spontaneous accomplishment. I don't doubt their validity. To arrive step-by-step, each piece evolving from the last with each new piece illuminating the previous one, takes perseverance. More, it takes courage. This courage has been instilled in me by Tulku Sang-ngag.
I would also like to say I am proud to have been one of the first to complete a three-year retreat at Tara Mandala thereby fulfilling an important aspect of Lama Tsultrim's vision."
-Jampa
A Day of Contrails
