James Low – Dzogchen and Buddhist Teachings

The Practice of Meditation. This Retreat will focus on The Mahamudra Instructions of Tipun Pema Chogyal. This short text shows us how to identify and respond to the many kinds of obstacles that can occur in practice. The aim of the retreat is to enable us to maintain calm, clear awareness whatever occurs.

Dates: 7-14 July 2024

Martin Breuger and Robert are organising. Waldemar did the audio recordings. Reiner Steiner did the video recordings.

Index

"(00:00:00) Embodies participation - Tsatsa"

"(00:08:35) Participating - for the other"

"(00:19:23) About Guru yoga"

"(00:35:24) Question - why meditation with eyes open"

"(00:41:25) Question - shamatha with closed eyes"

"(00:43:13) Guru yoga practice"

"(00:44:56) Practice in hot weather"

"(00:45:32) Text - pure support of body speech mind"

"(01:01:16) Useful for you - Dharma paths and vows"

"(01:09:58) Text - imagine Buddhas body - moon disk - sphere"

"(01:14:17) Tantra - imagination"

"(01:18:27) Imagine a moon disk"

"(01:18:50) Dissolving identification"

"(01:22:59) Imagining a sphere"

"(01:24:25) Everything is imagined"

"(01:28:59) Text - using the breath as support"

"(01:31:08) The vajra breath"

"(01:33:12) The characteristics of your breath"

"(01:38:45) Merge your mind with your breath"

"(01:43:03) Attention to the five elements"

"(01:50:06) Breath using Om Hung Aa"

"(01:55:57) Using the support of the base"

"(02:05:24) Involvement with sudden arisings - death - the bardo"

"(02:20:14) Question - clear light moment after"

"(02:21:43) Question - mantra recitation while dying"

"(02:25:25) Question - what kind of I in the dying process"

"(02:27:07) Living with conditions"

"(02:36:17) Not entering into involvement"

"(02:42:38) Question - willfully establishing non-involvement"

"(02:47:34) Sitting relaxed and open"

"(02:48:28) Something better than nothing"

"(02:54:19) Question - gaze in open sitting"

"(02:57:00) Text - not even a single thought"

"(02:58:21) Not making something of it"

The Practice of Meditation. This Retreat will focus on The Mahamudra Instructions of Tipun Pema Chogyal. This short text shows us how to identify and respond to the many kinds of obstacles that can occur in practice. The aim of the retreat is to enable us to maintain calm, clear awareness whatever occurs.

Dates: 7-14 July 2024

Martin Breuger and Robert are organising. Waldemar did the audio recordings. Reiner Steiner did the video recordings.

Index

"(00:00:00) Open sitting"

"(00:01:13) Five questions about the mind - shape and color"

"(00:07:00) Size - big or small"

"(00:11:05) Come from anywhere"

"(00:11:43) Where is abiding"

"(00:12:14) Going anywhere"

"(00:12:55) Working with the questions"

"(00:14:18) How about the things in the room"

"(00:18:51) The mind - the minds contents - involvement"

"(00:40:55) Dharma paths and your situation"

"(00:49:22) Mind isolated"

"(01:00:23) Mind not moving at rest whatever"

"(01:08:27) Mindfulness of the mind itself - non-distraction"

"(01:15:56) Kindness - compassion"

"(01:23:26) Not forgetting what you are becoming familiar with"

"(01:27:02) Tranquility - one-pointedness"

"(01:44:03) Question - intentionality"

"(01:47:43) Sitting with the breath"

"(01:49:53) Distraction and vulnerability - reframing"

"(01:53:35) Praying to the Guru - Lama Khyenno"

"(02:01:57) From dissolving into one-pointedness"

"(02:10:15) Consciousness - ego as distorting factor"

"(02:25:22) Beyond the limits of our world"

"(02:45:28) Questions - How to make the teachings a living reality"

"(02:52:04) Truth - relative - absolute"

"(03:05:18) The three rayas"

"(03:11:53) Question - complete - the perfected state"

"(03:22:38) Question - the importance of the view"

"(03:46:32) Text - rest for as long as you can"

"(03:57:13) Equipoise - a dynamic balance"

"(04:06:31) When separation pray to your Guru"

"(04:08:05) For sinking dullness agitation"

"(04:16:09) Garab Dorje - stay on this"

"(04:20:06) Question - nature of Rigpa awareness"

"(04:27:14) Meaning - conclusions - judgements"

8 March 2023. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) Padmasambhava said, 'Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour. Please expand.'"

"(03:59) There's a question from somebody who's been practicing Dharma for 30 years and suffers from health problems of particular autoimmune diseases, which affect the whole nervous system, making it very difficult to meditate or even just relax. Most of the time, there's some tension in the body, which makes meditation difficult, and the person is often discouraged."

"(09:07) During our daily activities like work and planning, how to maintain awareness of an open fresh mind? The requirements of normal life require concentrating on tasks, goals, results, and achievements, so that my work produces something of value that is judged by other people. So, how to stay with the precision of the task while maintaining open awareness?"

"(13:47) Although the view never feels very far away, I find that I'm not sitting to meditate as often as I used to. Should I set the time and stick to it and write myself reminders?"

"(18:25) You have talked of other realms and so on, but is it possible to take a completely secular approach to Dzogchen?"

"(24:14) A question wanting a repetition of the five questions of inquiry of the mind."

"(28:20) I have a teacher, a western disciple of a Tibetan Lama. He is authorized to teach, but not to give empowerments or tantric teaching. Can I think of him as my guru or as my teacher? He says I should see his guru as my guru, but I have not met this guru."

"(30:17) I am a beginner psychotherapist. Are there techniques in psychotherapy whose foundation is the Dzogchen teachings? Can this help the patient?"

"(33:15) Is one way to interpret the term sentient beings as self-states, in terms of a psychological perspective?"

"(34:45) Concerning Padmasambhava practice, what is the difference between an outer mantra and an inner mantra, with respect to their meaning usage and effects?"

"(43:16) What can we do practically to distinguish awareness of itself by itself versus the awareness based on reified self?"

Video at https://youtu.be/gLik8cQt7bw?si=cETr773pjMT3TW82

1st February 2023. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) How do we really know 'it is what it is', since our perceptions are usually distorted and we don't perceive things as they really are?"

"(08:18) Is it necessary for us to complete ngöndro to fully practice mahamudra? If not, when is it okay for us to go directly into practicing mahamudra?"

"(28:59) The dzogchen teachings tell us that all external and internal reality is mind. So we might reframe that as all that appears to be real and truly existing is in fact the energy of the mind. That is all phenomena, sensations, perceptions, thoughts and so on are projected into our mind."

"(35:35) How does this idealistic vision 'everything is mind' fit with the madhyamaka philosophy where any conceptualization is avoided?"

"(38:59) If we have had teachings on 'powa', the ejection of the mind out of the body, and we can eject our consciousness successfully into a pure land, at the moment of death, does that mean we skip the stage of child-meet-mother luminosity?"

"(39:57) It's said that the bardo is not here, not there, not past, not future... does that mean the bardo is also illusory? Bardo is just another way of saying 'in between', but if there is nothing to be in between, no A and B, then is the bardo is just a label actually?"

"(43:45) What is child luminosity and how do we know we have recognized it via our practice?"

Video at https://youtu.be/fb30mxvsGtE?si=B9n5ixH1fjw4LTwT

23 November 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) We can apply the questions 'is there a shape or a color?' to what occurs. 'Does it come from somewhere? Does it stay? Does it go?' We can apply this to both the content of the mind and the mind itself. Do they have a different function?"

"(03:06) The stainless original nature is prior to time and space and, in that sense, it is permanent and can be realized. Such realization depends on causes and conditions, such as having a teacher, hearing the teachings and so on. How then can the non-dual traditions teach that buddhahood is a permanent condition from which there is no back-sliding? "

"(09:55) I used to look at my body sensations as signals telling me about my needs. For example "I'm so tired, I need to rest." However, when I now try neither to merge nor to separate myself from the field of experience, sometimes I ignore these signals and then I abuse myself. How is it possible to take care of my own energetic resources yet be in accord with the dzogchen view?"

"(19:07) I still treat the time of meditation as more important, more sacred, than the time of my daily activities. What can I do to change this view? "

"(26:30) How did traditional practitioners in Tibet deal with their emotions?"

"(29:20) Why in the west are we so serious about what we call 'my practice'?"

"(31:02) There is less emphasis on long silent retreats in our tradition than in the zen or theravada traditions, for example. Why?"

"(34:27) When everything is empty and thoughts and feelings and emotions are mere constructs, how does one avoid being nihilistic? "

"(39:04) What is meant by 'exhaustion of phenomena' ?"

"(42:48) Are phenomena the reflections of the mirror?"

"(43:50) Can stillness and movement be experienced separately?"

"(45:32) If we have not received a direct transmission from any dzogchen master, is it possible to recognize the nature of mind by ourselves or do we need a direct transmission?"

"(51:20) How can we receive transmission when it may not be possible for us to meet Buddhist teachers from the east?"

Video at https://youtu.be/mOByAvxrP5g?si=cRhxJuwzNM_NFzGi

2nd November 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) With regard to depression, how does the medical biochemical approach compare to the psychoanalytic view and the buddhist view?"

"(10:05) Unless I am in open awareness, I get lost in thought. Does one need to stay in open awareness all the time?"

"(13:57) In dzogchen, they say that our situation is like a snake in a bamboo pole, we either go up or down. How to see where we are and what to do to ensure we go up?"

"(19:13) What is the purpose of planting Earth healing pots and and placing tsa-tsas, small images of the Buddhas and statues and making stupas?"

"(26:45) James says that we should avoid classifying people and situations in terms of of like and not like. Yet what should we do if we are connected with someone who undermines us, constantly attacks us and provokes anxiety and crises?"

"(37:08) How does practising in nature help to unveil the natural state of our mind?"

Video at https://youtu.be/L91tl1V5jHE?si=ItdNXmWAwc7ioKHl

28 September 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) Becoming more conscious of how I am a pulsation of change in a changing environment of diverse manifestations, Ioften feel disturbed by the excess of stimuli which I fuse with, then l cut off and enclose myself in a narrow view. How to avoid this happening?"

"(13:06) l have experienced that my intentions expressed in prayer are fulfilled. How does our mind and intention influence reality?"

"(19:38) When trying to stay with anger without merging and simultaneously letting whatever arises flow, l experience self-judging thoughts, such as "you shouldn't" or "that's not nice". This quickly leads to physical discomfort like a subtle form of irritation. Is this a sign that I have merged with the reaction to the judging thoughts?"

"(36:06) I have difficulty integrating the experiences, stroke recollections of rigpa, emptiness and non-duality. Yet only when I come out of it, I am able to refer to concepts of rigpa, emptiness and oneness."

Video at https://youtu.be/gjg46nZnmfA?si=K57WojKNdP-YInu2

18 May 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) Question from someone who has practiced a lot of zen sitting for many years, but started to feel the tradition wasn't doing anything lively for him. He says: now I feel more alive with the sense something inside me is guiding me, but can I trust this? Because I am aware how easy it is to deceive oneself."

"(02:17) Are there life patterns? If so, can we scape from them?"

"(13:27) 'Observe our own mind and find out how it is.' Does it envolve analises? The guru yoga is free of analises."

"(16:04) How to live in a proactive culture, while remaining in the receptive state of the mirror?"

"(20:27) Is enlightenment possible without meditation? What about the religious traditions that don't talk about meditation?"

"(23:10) Do you believe in free will? If so, where is the 'I' that I believe sits in front of the thoughts that are ever emerging?"

"(24:42) When difficult emotions arises, a mood can last for days. We are advised not to reject negative experiences, but to protect the thusness within them. How to do this without reactivity or artificiality?"

"(26:26) How to reverse the karmic impact of unethical actions?"

"(29:10) Why are owls auspicious?"

"(30:07) How is deity practice relevant to us on the path?"

"(30:34) What are mind termas?"

"(31:05) How can we be sure that we are in rigpa?"

"(31:59) In the Rigdzin text, it says 'I and all sentient being go for refuge'. How can I say this on behalf of all sentient beings?"

"(33:16) Many teachers give the Rigpa Tsal Wang and say that this is indispensable for dzogchen practice. You don't. Why? "

"(34:42) With intense experience of suffering, where one moment of experience is followed by another, the fact that the arising is vanishing doesn't help, with the stream of similar experiences which keep coming, such as chronic pain, fear of attack, war, grief."

"(38:52) With the war in Ukraine there is hurtful aggression, it may be illusory, but people do experience attack and suffering. How to look at war in terms of emptiness, while avoiding entering into judgment?"

"(40:31) Nothing exists in and of itself, everything is empty. So how does karma come into future lives? What transports the karma?"

"(42:31) In the text we read, there are five kayas. I know about the dharmakaya, sanbogakaya and nirmanakaya. What are the other two?"

"(43:37) How to continue in awareness in our daily activities, without immediately falling back in the same old pattern of reification?"

"(45:01) What is meant by pure vision? Is it a pure sensory perception or rather a pure view?"

"(47:31) Is is it possible to have a pure vision while we still have a karmic body?"

Video at https://youtu.be/78YUjwB8SH4?si=QCJfD3sRZ3myqAXo

6 April 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) There is often an instruction "observe your own mind and find out how it is". Is this open sitting practice the same as or different from guru yoga?"

"(12:06) Have you ever witnessed a miracle? If so, please tell us about it."

"(13:10) Do you consider mudras helpful? If yes, which ones in particular?"

"(15:16) Is psychotherapy useful as an adjunct or a support for dzogchen?"

"(18:53) How to introduce children to this dzogchen view? What topics at what ages?"

"(27:31) Should we do long retreats or short retreats or just one day? What is good?"

"(31:57) Our everyday experience is of a body walking in space. Is this more accurately the space in the mind, so we are not in space, but space is in the mind?"

"(40:08) At the moment, I conceptually understand that what I see is like a reflection in the mirror. But this is still a concept. How to get direct experience of this?"

Video at https://youtu.be/0niSASsoVQA?si=vpKV-fuKrqojRn1R

23 February 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators. How can our dharma understanding help us to stay open and relaxed in times of war and conflict?

Video at https://youtu.be/KCIykdh793s?si=F3wAZDTQxxH2t_M2

9 February 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) The duality of violent and non-violent communication: how not to get caught in either of them?"

"(07:12) Are any empowerment of any of the different classes of tantra and so on prerequisite for studying and practicing dzogchen or are they pointing out instructions, the very door?"

"(13:56) Are you implying that the reality outside of us doesn't exist at all?"

"(16:41) The concept of renunciation and extinguishing all duality is extreme. Surely we can enjoy the good and deal with the bad without attachment."

"(22:30) In meditation I sometimes have a perception of quietness and peace. Yet when I reach it, I spontaneously finish the meditation as if I was incapable of maintaining it. Is there an explanation or remedy?"

"(28:49) How to bring dharma ideas into the lives of children, so that they are not totally immersed in capitalist materialism?"

"(33:38) Can you say something about Hedewa, the shock of amazement that you get with Phat!?"

"(39:32) So many methods are present in the buddhist tradition for overcoming dualism and delusion in order to awaken. How do you think we should approach this? Should we do it with us adapting to these traditional structures, to the purity of the lineage? Or should we adapt this inheritance to our own lived situation?"

Video at https://youtu.be/UEiFjyrboCU?si=x34hb8Pykxna4mqB

19 January 2022. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) Should we be doing a Yidam practice as well as Padmasambhava practice?"

"(03:15) Can you explain the Khandro Gadgyang chöd?"

"(06:44) Somebody who has been able to take some time so that they don't have to work for a period of time and they can just devote themselves fully to the practice: should they start to look for a job or to trust that all that is needed will arrive?"

"(14:25) Is chöd different from the christian idea of self-sacrifice?"

"(18:14) Is the fearlessness and equanimity from chöd an acceptance that lets evil win?"

"(20:23) Some writers stress the need for advanced meditative accomplishment before entering dzogchen. You do not. Why?"

"(24:28) How to deal with people and situations which awaken karmic patterns in us with of great intensity?"

"(28:35) How to be in the world with others, maintaining the structure of my life without organizing events around my egoic intentions?"

"(31:28) Somebody has said that they came across apiece of writing that said that Zangdok Parli, the place where Padmasambhava is now, is also inhabited by rakshasas, who only see Guru Rinpoche as a harsh rakshasa king."

"(34:57) For quite some time, I experienced a tilt to the nihilistic pole. As a result, I experience a general lack of motivation in my life. If everything is impermanent and empty, like the breath of wind, why should I put effort into something?"

"(36:37) Why strive for virtue?"

"(40:13) The more I practice or listen to the teachings and reflect about them, it seems to me that the struggle and the power of the ego is strengthening. Do I do something wrong?

43:33 Could you explain again the five questions regarding the mind?"

Video at https://youtu.be/_4ll6YS07BQ?si=Xt-hPBag5HLsY7N1

17 November 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from one of the translators.

Index

"(00:00) Can you comment on the three factor that are unconditionef? The sky, enlightenment and the moment of enlightenment."

"(12:51) Why did great lamas like Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and so on do tantric practices of visualization mantra and so on every day? Is a practice like dzogchen, guru yoga, not enough?"

"(18:56) What is the buddhist significance of adventitious?"

"(22:09) How to deal with feelings of shame or guilt if you are unable to follow through with a guru's command?"

"(28:48) When I practice and make absolutely no effort, I'm dragged around by thoughts. I feel like I need to have some sort of intention or minor effort in order to stay open and present."

"(34:18) In guru yoga of the white A, should the eyes be kept open all the time?"

Video at https://youtu.be/mK6uraSr1Xc?si=MpwWJIG9kfW8P73_

27 October 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) I follow dharma and live in a country where most people do not. I see them suffer, but they are committed to their beliefs. How might I respond?"

"(04:22) I have a lot of negative thoughts, although I try to be a good person. Where do these thoughts come from and how to stop them?"

"(09:18) How to purify the karmic effects of bad thoughts, intentions and deeds?"

"(15:08) What should we do to prepare for sleep and to prepare at the time of waking and to work with the events of the day and the night?"

"(20:04) Outer inner secret: what do these terms indicate?"

"(21:35) Say something about the relationship between the teacher and student in the present times."

"(25:35) I have the experience of nothingness with awareness, sometimes after Phat. It's vast, clear and unlimited. Is this still within duality?"

"(29:20) Are there objective natural laws spontaneously arising from the primordial ground? Or are all concepts, including the apparent relationship of cause and effect that appear in the natural world a product of ignorance?"

"(32:47) What dharma approaches can help a person with chronic illness and chronic pain, without making them feel unable, inadequate or stressed?"

Video at https://youtu.be/Pbz7R_xzOUc?si=I6ImEZaSFYTHLiN2

6 October 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) Can dzogchen be reconciled with a scientific view of the world? Do they need to be reconcilable? If they can't be reconciled, how to resolve the tension between western cultural beliefs and dharma views?"

"(04:13) Are mind and matter truly different?"

"(19:08) Wisdom indicates that there are no really existing beings. Compassion indicates that we should respond to the suffering of beings and try to help them. How to reconcile this and not be an unethical bystander?"

"(29:06) What does the term unborn mean, when applied to phenomena?"

"(39:48) And the consequent facts that for the great bodhisattvas thoughts do not arise?"

Video at https://youtu.be/IgvcKxejmO8?si=kGHwpihXQtqCtvPc

23 June 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) How to deal with being self-critical in relation to dharma?"

"(02:38) Is it valid to do practice linked to the mamos at this time? How to integrate vajrayana rituals with our contemporary life?"

"(06:05) Explain the meaning of the three roots guru, yidam and dakini"

"(15:00) I am not sure if I want the family or to dedicate my life to dharma practice. I think I could lose time in family life. Any advice?"

"(23:37) If I had difficulty understanding this dzogchen view, how can I overcome these obstacles?"

"(27:49) Is it important to have our eyes open in the "white A" guru yoga?"

"(29:32) Can you say more on the image of the mirror and the crystal ball? Is there a difference between what they are used to illustrate?"

"(36:32) I see suffering beings yet I practice to see that there are no actual beings. This is confusing."

"(39:58) When I'm sitting, resting in stillness and presence, at some point, there's a loss of vividness and lucidity. I don't fall asleep, yet I'm not fully aware. It's rather flat and dull. Then, I return to the more spacious experience and I've become aware that I have become somewhat veiled or covered"

Video at https://youtu.be/kLKxDPChUww?si=XPEIqcWaoNquQxqh

9 June 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(0:00) Even though I practice, the sense of myself is not changing. How can I directly dissolve the idea of self?"

"(15:55) When and how to use Phat?"

"(18:09 You said: 'Devotion to the other merges self and other in non-duality'. Please explain further")

"(28:40) What does it mean to use the energy of the ego to dissolve the ego?"

"(30:06) Are there natural laws spontaneously arising from the primordial ground?"

"(40:57) Why does it seem harder to let go of pleasant memories, joy and bliss?"

Video at https://youtu.be/ZpRzur9l_rc?si=o19LhiyeTGaroV7d

12 May 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(0:00) What is the origin purpose and benefits of doing a padmasambhava tantric practice? How is this guru yoga practice related to dzogchen teachings?"

"(6:22) James said that the practice of chöd and semdzins were disruptive practices. What does this mean?"

"(13:59) How to see through the false sense of self which is so embedded?"

"(26:52) Can we get a taste of freedom without doing years of retreat?"

"(29:52) if I experience a sense of presence in my heart area, is this related to materiality and therefore not to be given importance or is it related to the intrinsic sense of awareness?"

Video at https://youtu.be/WmFLJ23nc-s?si=O2rZKp2ETjNs1I7F

26 May 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) With the practice of dzogchen, are art and music an obstacle or they can be useful?"

"(09:41) Since rigpa or awareness is uncompounded, does it have self essence or other qualities?""

"(17:42) What to do with tantric practice commitments, when now a person wants to do guru yoga and dzogchen? Is it necessary to finish the ngöndro?"

"(23:11) Is being trans an obstacle to practicing vajrayana and how to deal with prejudice?"

"(29:50) How to know if you are on the path? Am I attuning with the teachings in the right way?"

Video at https://youtu.be/N-TBTvgtvVk?si=IUdrtvPwZIa19gsR

28 April 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index "(00:00) Why do stories belong in the house of compassion and not in the house of wisdom?" "(04:43) How do the visualization's practices of tantra relate to dzogchen?" "(09:21) How can we lose our sense of ourselves by experiencing ourselves as Padmasambhava or a deity?" "(12:25) How does anger relate to the water element? How can it be transformed into mirror-like wisdom? How does this mirror-like wisdom differ from the wisdom of dharmadhatu?" "(16:18) How to release recurring karmic patterns such as fear and anxiety, which hinder the recognition of open presence?" "(20:19) How to discern a thought as it arises rather than suddenly finding oneself lost in the thought or. carried away by it?" "(28:10) How to spread the truth of dharma, for example, impermanence and karma, when obscurations are everywhere and emotions like anger are intense?" "(33:13) Is it still possible to have a guru-student relationship today?"

Original video at https://youtu.be/As9haJCwIh0?si=K0s6byyFRWMynqyc

The Practice of Meditation. This Retreat will focus on The Mahamudra Instructions of Tipun Pema Chogyal. This short text shows us how to identify and respond to the many kinds of obstacles that can occur in practice. The aim of the retreat is to enable us to maintain calm, clear awareness whatever occurs.

Dates: 7-14 July 2024

Martin Breuger and Robert are organising. Waldemar did the audio recordings. Reiner Steiner did the video recordings.

Index

"(00:00:00) About Mahamudra and the focus of the retreat"

"(00:44:28) The ground - how are you"

"(00:53:01) Refuge"

"(01:07:55) Reciting the refuge"

"(01:11:48) Human birth - Bodhicitta"

"(01:19:27) Emptiness"

"(01:53:17) Connectivity - limits and non-duality"

"(02:05:03) Text - Notes on Mahamudra - Padma Karpo"

"(02:08:27) Ordinary consciousness - original knowing"

"(02:50:10) Text - Co-emergent yoga - the world and you"

"(03:01:38) Death and impermanence"

"(03:06:54) Precious human birth"

"(03:08:08) Suffering"

"(03:22:48) Karma"

"(03:27:19) Your assumptions about who you are"

"(03:33:36) Nine round breathing"

"(03:35:24) Polarities and dialog"

"(03:47:36) Meditation posture"

"(03:49:16) Uninvolved open available"

"(04:10:48) The Vajra posture"

"(04:33:13) Inserting the five winds into the central channel"

"(04:46:56) Regarding speech the residual winds are expelled"

"(04:57:27) Thoughts of the past and future"

"(05:05:59) Meditating on concepts"

"(05:12:28) Whatever arises in the present - mind flows as it will"

"(05:28:56) Tilopa - rest with how it is"

"(05:43:39) Non-distraction - mind isolated"

"(05:58:18) Quiet sitting"

"(05:58:54) Distracted in an ocean of clarity"

"(06:03:25) Caught in delusion"

20 January 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Original video at https://youtu.be/GbT757nEQd0?si=TfTVXfjKOY71Tr9x

14 April 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index

"(00:00) How does the guru yoga of the white A relate to using Phat?"

"(03:06) How does one work with a habit of technique-based mindfulness practice with the strong presence of the watcher?"

"(10:10) The many veils of samsara are so thick. Can we truly find a way out of samsara?"

"(17:41) Over the years you have decided to translate some words or ideas differently. What is the thinking behind this?"

"(24:57) If I follow dharma, how do I enjoy life without feeling guilty that I am not studying or saying mantras?"

"(31:07) What are the possible energetic experiences when dzogchen practice is going the right way?"

"(39:02) In dzogchen, what is the meaning of the unchanging nature of our mind?"

Original video at https://youtu.be/1iHDa0mmRoA?si=ao6XayoN2lJdhXSS

10 March 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Index "(00:00) ⁠The qualities of the mind related to the five dhyani buddhas"

"⁠(07:57)⁠ How to reduce self-reference when distracted in practice?"

"⁠(17:30)⁠ We experience emptiness, don't we? Who is experiencing it?"

"(⁠23:53)⁠ Which dharma stories could help people today outside dharma?"

"(31:44)⁠ Are trauma serious impediments to realizing your true nature?"

Original video at https://youtu.be/cXSAdoJnKbw?si=M5-BoLgSBkdwJeFc

10 February 2021. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Index

"(00:00) Can trekchö be done as a guided meditation? Is it a suitable practice arena for beginners?"

"(03:20) It seems there are different aspects to attraction and aversion..."

"(14:42) Could the practice of not trying to understand and to be with it lead to passivity?"

"(22:07) Can rigpa, awareness be realized and stabilized with simple resting in awareness and watching events self-liberating, like writing on water?"

"(31:35) Why does sentience or awareness or the subject seem to split into separate persons and the illusory sentient beings, while the objective world seems to be single?"

"(37:40) What is dakini energy in connection with the unborn ground of luminous experience?"

Original video at https://youtu.be/UoDGHqTiQek?si=uRKbBn-VLA5zNHXN

2 December 2020. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

11 November 2020. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Original video on https://youtu.be/zkroo-0nxEo?si=IqrQsaEwLcraRRQJ

26 August 2020. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

12 August 2020. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

29 July 2020. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Original video in https://youtu.be/l4iuFR8px2U?si=QoWoKS-LVWw0vzuZ