From January 21st on

Teaching on Common Preliminaries and non Common Preliminaries to the Great Sceal

every evening during the individual guided retreat from Saturday evening January 21st on

Common Preliminaries

Venerable Master Gampopa

The Four Common Preliminaries are a deep reflection that we need to integrate because it allows us to turn away from the ordinary concerns of this life. Thanks to this integration and to the renunciation which ensues, the mind naturally abides in peace. This natural peace will allow the mind to penetrate its fundamental nature.

These four reflections are:

“The Precious Human Body,” which gives a fair appreciation of the unique value of human existence and the difficulty of obtaining it.
“Death and impermanence” confront us with the imminence of death and with the mere fact that our hopes of making our present enjoyments last beyond the present moment are unfounded.
“Action, cause, and effects,” show that “action” is all that one does, says, or thinks; that “the cause” comes from the emotion or intention that motivates an action; that “the effect” produces an experience that comes from the action and its intention. The effects can be experienced in this life, in the next one or even much later. It is with this understanding that we are encouraged to adopt the virtues and abandon nuisances.
“The defects inherent to the cycle of existences”, which reinforce us in the growing conviction that Liberation is the only valid aim, that the cycle of existences is suffering and that it lacks any lasting satisfaction.

Non Common Preliminaries

The Six Sources of Refuge Wish-fulfilling Tree

The preliminaries to the Path of the Great Seal (Ngöndro) are a very important aspect of the Path as they establish a steady and certain foundation to progress without any mistake.

On the basis of the reflection on the four thoughts which turn the mind away from the appeal of the ordinary activities of the cyclic existence, the four non common preliminaries are practiced, usually by doing a series of one hundred thousand of each.

This foundation sets up the mind in a very favorable state to be able to receive the grace, which is itself a crucial aspect to the accomplishment of enlightenment

This practice requires some stamina and requests a special investment.