http://jamesgritz.com/blog/

I just returned from a month long retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche in Crestone, CO. It was a great integration of practice and teachings. During the first week Rinpoche gave three empowerments from the Chokling Tersar cycle of teachings – a Guru Rinpoche,  Vajrasattva and a Tara. (here’s a link to more on Chokgyur Lingpa http://www.choklingtersar.org/library/Chokgyur_Lingpa_Life.pdf)

Month long retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Crestone, CO

For the next three weeks we moved to a Tibetan tent on Pundarika land where Rinpoche taught on Gampopa’s “The Precious Garland of the Sublime Path”.  This text includes lots of 10 things to do and not to do on the path…10 useless things, 10 ways to destroy yourself, 10 necessities, etc.(a big change from Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s usual Dzogchen teachings), but all in all, a very practical guide to the three Yana path. Outside of the 3 hours of daily teaching in the big tent we practiced another 7 hours divided into 3 sessions in our own locations. I personally find this kind of retreat, based on the Tibetan yogi camp style of daily teaching and isolated personal practice, the perfect way to assimilate the dharma.

For some reason the underlying theme of the retreat was summarized by this quote from Buddha that we found one morning on our zafus, “My dream-like form appears to dream-like beings to show the dream-like path to dream-like enlightenment.”

Toward the end of the retreat Rinpoche called for more audience participation to share our own personal experiences or words of wisdom. Here are two of my favorite quotes.

Since everything is but an apparition, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may as well burst out in laughter - Longchenpa

Not sure who said the next one: “If you don’t know it’s a thought it becomes your reality.”

http://www.buddhistmala.com/store/tassel_less_malas.html
We still prefer to make malas with tassels, so that we can use the durable, state of the art cable- soft flex-
http://buddhistmala.com/store/mala_restringing.html
What experiences with malas breaking or lasting the longest have people had?