Dragons in Full Flight

April 9, 2009

Four Drukpa masters spread their wings and took center stage today. Kyabje Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche Ngawang Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso, an important and truly accomplished Drukpa scholar, confirmed our belief in Dragons in his teaching “The Importance of Correct Motivation”. True to his scholastic background and his charming personality, Kyabje Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche delivered a teaching on the roots of the Drukpa Lineage, where teachings were taught based on genuinely altruistic motivation, which seemed more like a captivating story than a Dharma discourse.

Kyabje Khamtrul Rinpoche, temporarily set aside his role as chairman of ADC to present a teaching on “Transforming Anger into Loving-Kindness”. He outlined the different types of austere practices that many practitioners endure and suggested that if one is able to endure such severity, then why not just let anger pass? Despite Kyabje Khamtrul Rinpoche’s soft-spoken nature, his teachings are hard hitting.

During an international press conference this afternoon with His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, Kyabje Choegon Rinpoche and Kyabje Khamtrul Rinpoche, His Holiness unveiled the book The Dragon Yogis. The Dragon Yogis consists of a compilation of short stories and teaching from the Drukpa Lineage. Each participant t of ADC will receive a copy of the book. It is the hope of His Holiness and Kyabje Khamtrul Rinpoche that The Dragon Yogis will serve as a practical tool to remind the participants of the teachings given at ADC and to aid them in integrating those teachings into daily life.

Kyabje Khamtrul Rinpoche Jigme Pema Nyinjadh

Kyabje Sakten Rinpoche of the Kingdom of Bhutan continued the lesson on the Drukpa Lineage which Kyabje Choegon Rinpoche began by teaching “Emergence of Lower, Middle and Upper Drukpa Schools”. His erudite delivery of the lesson exemplifies his learned background.

The day concluded with a practice of Sengey Tsewa with the nuns of Druk Amitabha Mountain. The nuns and the participants of ADC synchronized over 1,000 damarus (handheld ritual drums) and dorje bells. The ritual was poetically accompanied by a lightning storm and thunder, coincidentally, the sound of a dragon.