THe unborn undying heart
Quintessence of Vajrayana is a program exploring the many layers of hidden meaning of the Seven Line Invocation of Guru Rinpoche, the Vajra Guru mantra, the Lama practice and the Single AH practice, all of which point to the unborn and undying heart or essence of all beings that is the ultimate or secret Guru. This program is the condensed essence of all tantric practice and provides an entrance point to Dzogchen, including the realizations of Trekcho and Togyal. Generally speaking, this program is for those who feel that they need and benefit from more form-based practice (chanting/singing of mantra, visualization etc.) while they ease into the more formless practice of our main program, the Path of Joy and Ease. This Quintessence of Vajrayana program is completed in four stages over a year, each stage taking three months. The program is faithful to the following pith instruction from Terchen Chokyi Wangchuk (1212 - 1270 CE), the terton (treasure revealer) who discovered the Seven Line Invocation of Guru Rinpoche:
"No need to make offerings or praise; set aside all accumulating; simply let devotion flood your body, speech and mind, and pray, pray with the seven lines!"
In the spirit of this pith instruction, and to maintain the blessing of the original terma revelation in which the Seven Line Invocation was first revealed, it is preferable, though not required, that all participants in this program set aside all other tantric practices in order to focus solely on this program for a year. It is not unusual in Vajrayana to focus on a single practice for a period of time, and set aside others. For example, when one is in retreat to accomplish one of the three roots practices (Lama, Yidam, Dakini), all other practices are set aside. According to Terchen Chokyi Wangchuk's terma, in which the Seven Line Invocation of Guru Rinpoche was revealed, the benefits and blessings of the Seven Line Invocation may not flow without this kind of focus. Those wishing to do the program in this focused way and also maintain pre-existing practice commitments made with other teachers can perform the traditional fortnightly Tsok in lieu of keeping up any other Sadhana commitments which is a common strategy across all Vajrayana lineages. The practices in the Path of Joy and Ease program are not tantric and so are compatible with this program. Indeed, they would be an enhancement.
This program is focused on practice rather than study and on quality of experience rather than number of accumulations. Acquiring information about practice is not the way to realization. The only way to realization is to do the practice itself. Thus, the program provides time and space (and personal guidance) to do the practice and benefit from its transformative power. The practices become increasingly more concise and potent in each stage of the program. Indeed, each new, more concise practice is the condensed essence of the one preceding it.
The program is taught by Dr. Pema Düddul who received transmission and/or teaching on the Seven Line Invocation of Guru Rinpoche, the Vajra Guru mantra and the Single AH practice from Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and a number of other teachers. Pema was given permission to teach in 2006.
