Takla Mebar Retreat (Winter Retreat)
December 1st -31st, 2022
with Chaphur Rinpoche
Zoom sessions will be on Saturday, December 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th
8am to 9am (PT) and 5pm to 6pm Central European Time (CET)
December 31st 8-9pm (PT) and 5am-6am Central European Time:
December 1st 8am to 9am PT, Rinpoche will give instructions regarding the preparations for the retreat as well as beginning the actual retreat in your home. This will include how to make the offering tormas, the initial Takla Mebar mantra to recite, and the beginning visualization practice.
Chaphur Rinpoche will be in personal retreat for the month of December. During that time, his practice will be focused on his personal Yidam, Takla Mebar. Rinpoche has been deepening his connection with his family lineage Yidam each December for many years. This year all sangha members are warmly invited to join Rinpoche in doing these powerful, healing practices from home or a chosen personal retreat location.
Every Saturday Rinpoche will give teachings via Zoom on the generation and completion stages of the Takla Mebar practice and their relation to tantric practice in the larger Bön Buddhist context. Students will be encouraged to practice their own retreat focusing on the Deity, accumulating mantras, and engaging in other Takla Mebar practices.
Here is a short description of Takla Mebar:
In order to overcome negative forces and the personal, negative emotions and obstacles they create, Tonpa Shenrab Miwo manifested as Takla Mebar (Flaming Tiger Deity) and subjugated those evil forces through his compassionate wisdom, transforming them into compassionate and peaceful beings.
Takla Mebar heals the outer poisons by transforming them into wisdom and positive aspects. The inner negativities are transformed into the clarity of the Five Wisdoms: the wisdom of emptiness, mirror-like wisdom, the wisdom of equality, discriminating wisdom, and all-accomplishing wisdom. The Chaphur family members have been the lineage holders of this Yidam since the very beginning of their recorded family history.
December 31st: On New Year’s Eve, the conclusion of the Takla Mebar retreat, we will join in the ritual of “Dokpa.” Literally “Dokpa” means turning back obstacles. In preparation for the 2023 New Year, we will combine the fire energy of Takla Mebar with the Dokpa B ritual to clear all negative obstacles, allowing the positive blessings of peace, wisdom, compassion, love and prosperity to manifest fully in all aspects of our lives.
Our Retreat will be conducted according to the Bön tradition. Daily retreat practice will include the 4 Generosities (offerings): Sang (purification offering), Chutör ( water offering), Sur (burnt food offering) and Chöd (offering of the body).
Please use this link to register for the retreat: CLICK HERE:
Recordings will be made available shortly afterwards. Please register by Saturday, November 27th and you will receive the materials to print in advance of the teaching. The Zoom link will be sent out 30 minutes before each teaching.
The Gyalshen Store has ordered several beautifully rendered Takla Mebar thangkas from Tibet. If you would like to order one as a support for your practice, please click on the following link: CLICK HERE:
