The thing about setting up residential retreats, is that it is almost entirely unlike being a snail.What we do - what we did this last week - was uplift part of our 'home' and take it to some rented venue. This shot of Sonam and Simon's Wedding Blessing shows a hint of what we can [...]
Drala Jong is intended to be a space supportive of creativity and invention. With that in mind, I thought (albeit somewhat self indulgently) to post the first piece of creative narration by my son who is 4 - as relayed by his nursery teachers.I went with mummy and daddy, we flew like dragons to the [...]
Looks like Kate Humble thinks Drala Jong is such a good idea she is going to copy it (sort of!): www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-14330147. Nice to see support for rural skills from some imaginative councillors and a TV celeb! It is interesting to read the headline that Kate and her husband are looking to invest around £500,000 in [...]
Q: What sorts of teachings would a residential centre allow – would there be something new that isn’t currently possible to teach to the public at present? NCR: It is not so much about providing something new, as being something that gives enough time for certain practices. There are things you cannot teach in an [...]
Q: What will Drala Jong be used for?Ngak’chang Chögyam Rinpoche [NCR]: Buddhism!Q: [Laughs] Sorry, silly question. What I really meant was that we already hire venues for both non-residential, and residential retreats. Why is buying our own place better than hiring places?NCR: Well, there’s simple pragmatics for a start. If we added up how much [...]
Sky McCain is a long-time supporter of the Drala Jong project. Later this year his work Planet as Self - An Earthen Spirituality will be launched.Having had sight of a sneak preview of the text, herewith is a review of his work.- - -One definition of stupidity is 'Doing the same thing over and over [...]
Dear readers - thank you for your interest in Question Time with Ngak'chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen. We now have a range of questions to put to them on the subjects of Retreat and Retreat Centres in general, and Drala Jong in particular.I'll be closing the books on questions by mid-July, and aim to have [...]
As part of trying to find ways for our donors and volunteers to participate fully in the life of the Drala Jong fundraising project, we'd like to invite your participation in a 'Question Time' session with our Spiritual Directors, the Lineage Holders of the Aro Tradition. We are currently formulating a list of questions to [...]
£436,061.Do you happen to have that sum lying around under a bed somewhere, and don't know what to do with it?Excellent - then please pass it our way, as at the end of 2010 our appeal fund has risen to £63,939 and the figure of £436,061 is exactly how much money we now require to [...]
Whilst the original inspiration for the foundation of Sang-ngak-chö-dzong came from His Holiness Dud'jom Rinpoche, the idea of having our own retreat place has not always been at the forefront of the thinking of our tradition. Indeed when I joined the tradition there was still a tendency to indulge in a gentle play on [...]
