Europe Benchen Phuntsok Ling, Belgium

Lojong Practice - Seven Points of Mind Training by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje

As Tenga Rinpoche has taught many times, this text is very important and profound. In general, we need bodhicitta to attain enlightenment. The best training for bodhicitta is Lojong (mind training) and especially this text.
The practice was transmitted from India to Tibet by Atisha and brought to the Kagyu lineage by Gampopa as part of the Kadampa teachings.

This text trains both absolute bodhicitta - Mahamudra - and relative bodhicitta, which is very important for our daily lifes. It is a very short text by the great master Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, which covers everything. Especially in these difficult times, this text is exactly what we need.

For many years it has been a common practice in Benchen Phuntsok Ling to practice Nyung Neh, which is very effective in purifying negative karma, accumulating merit, and opening the heart to compassion.
This practice was brought to Tibet by the Indian nun Gelongma Palmo. Gelongma Palmo herself was seriously ill, and in this state she had a vision of Chenrezig, who gave her the long mantra of Thousand-armed Chenrezig as a source of healing. Thus Gelongma Palmo was restored to health and became a yogini who later attained enlightenment.
The Nyung Neh retreat is a special two-day meditation of the Thousand-armed Chenrezig, which is part of Kriya Tantra. It is said that through the practice of Nyung Neh, the gate to rebirth in the lower realms is closed forever. The completion of eight Nyung Neh is said to lead to rebirth in Dewachen.

Two Nyung Neh will be practiced in sequence. Lama Ngawang Tsultrim will first give instructions on the practice, including visualization. We will then take the eight vows to be taken during Nyung Neh and go step by step through the meditation practice. The retreat includes days of silence as well as days of fasting without food or drink.

Before participating in the Nyung Neh retreat, it is the responsibility of the participant to have a medical examination to ensure that he or she meets the health requirements for participation. In addition, the empowerment of the Thousand-armed Chenrezig is a prerequisite for participation.

Advice by Lama Ngawang Tsultrim as given in his letter from 2022.

"Dear Sangha,

In the very beginning, on November 8, 1998, when Tenga Rinpoche decided to establish Benchen Phuntsok Ling, he wrote to his students:  The intention or goal of buying a center is that everyone who has time can do retreat there for a few weeks or months, and that it will be a permanent place for summer courses in the summer. In the further future, courses on general Buddhist teachings and personal practice are planned, which will include the gradual path of the four preliminary practices, the practice of the creation and completion stages of the yidam (Kyerim/Dzogrim), the six yogas of Naropa, and the path of Mahamudra.
By practicing Dharma there, it will be a place of extraordinary benefit to oneself and others.