RETREAT



When: Saturday March 22 from 10a to 4:30p. Please arrive by 9:30 so we can get settled and start promptly at 10.

Where: Adjacent to Ridley Creek Park at Blue Hill, 2425 North Providence Rd., Media, PA 19063. There will be a rainbow-colored placard at the end of the driveway to help you find it.

What: Healing/purificatio n retreat with the Venerable Losang Samten.

What else: Potluck lunch. Bring a dish you like to eat and bring enough to share with two or three people, no need to bring a lot.

Suggested Donation: $50 or whatever you can afford.

What to Bring:

Your cushion - the Center will provide a few cushions if you don"t own one

Potluck lunch

A sweater - always a good idea to bring a sweater at this time of year

An open heart and a focused mind .

Malas if you have them

Please turn off cell phones/pagers or put on silent mode.


Volunteers needed: on the morning of the retreat, to bring cushions from 38th & Chestnut St. to Blue Hill.

All who wish to attend are asked to pre-register with Susan Simmons at simmonssusan@ hotmail. com. Please put °Blue Hill Retreat in the subject line. As always, thanks very much to Marian Droba for use of this sacred space.


The Four Noble Truths







Buddha's first teaching to his disciples


1st Truth: suffering exists
2nd Truth: the cause of suffering (mistaken grasping at the limited illusory self)
3rd Truth: freedom exists
4th Truth: the cause of freedom (realizing the true nature of mind is unlimited and clear)


These Teachings, so practical and so profound, offer hope and a direct powerful means to the freedom and happiness we truly long for.









Ven Losang wishes us to study, understand and memorise this text composed by Tsongkapa

Prayer of Tsonkhapa Miktsema (tib.)

Chenrezig, the treasure of unapprehendable compassion,
Manjushri, lord of stainless wisdom, and
Vajrapani, destroyer of all allied demons
Tsongkhapa, crown jewel of masters in the Land of Snow,
Lobsang Drakpa, to you I pray.


Foundation of all Perfections Yonten Zhirgyurma(tib.)

Following a kind master, foundation of all perfections,
Is the very root and basis of the path.
Inspire me to see this clearly
And to make every effort to follow well.


Precious human life, gained but once,
Has great potential but is easily lost.
Inspire me to remember this constantly
And to think day and night of taking its essence.


I must remember that death is quick to strike,
For spirit quivers in flesh like a bubble in water,
And after death one's good and evil deeds
Trail after one like the shadow trails the body.


Understanding that this most certainly is true,
May I discard every level of wrong,
And generate an infinite mass of goodness;
Inspire me to be thus continually aware.


Sensual gluttony is a gate to suffering
And is not worthy of a lucid mind.
Inspire me to realize the shortcomings of samsara
And to give birth to the great wish for blissful freedom.


And inspire me that with mindfulness and alertness
Born from thoughts ultimately pure,
I may live in accord with the holy dharma,
The way leading to personal liberation.


Just as I myself have fallen into samsara's waters,
So have all other sentient beings.
Inspire me to see this and really to practice
Boddhimind, that carries the weight of freeing them.


Yet without habituation in the three types of morality,
Thought training accomplishes no enlightenment.
Inspire me to know this deeply, and intensely to train
In the various ways of the great Boddhisattvas.


And inspire me to pacify distorted mental wanderings
And to decipher the ultimate meaning of life,
That I may give birth within my mindstream
To the path combining concentration and wisdom.


One who trains in these common Mahayana practices
Becomes a vessel worthy of the Supreme Vehicle, Vadjayana,
Inspire me that I may quickly and easily
Arrive at that portal of fortunate beings.


The foundation of what then produces the two powers
Is the guarding of the pledges and commitments of tantric initiation.
Inspire me so I may have uncontrived knowledge of this
And guard my discipline as I do my very life.


And inspire me so that I may gain realization of the main practices
Of the two stages of Vajrayana, essence of the tantric path;
And, by sitting relentlessly in four daily sessions of yoga,
Actualize just what the sages have taught.


Inspire me that the masters who have unfolded the sublime path within me
And the spiritual friends who have inspired me may live long;
And that the myriad inner and outer interferences
Be completely and utterly calmed forever.


In all future lives may I never be parted
From the perfect lamas or the pure ways of Dharma.
May I gain every experience of the paths and stages
And quickly attain the stage of Vajradhara.


Request

Glorious , kind, precious root lama,
Please take your seat on the lotus and moon in my heart.
Please take care of me with your great kindness
And grant me the attainments of your body, speech and mind.