Sat 16th – Sun 17th February 2019
For the first retreat of the Tibetan New Year, Jigme Rinpoche will be leading a nyungne practice weekend to which all are welcome.
Nyungne is a fasting ritual based on the practice of Chenrezig (Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara), the buddha of great compassion. It is a swift and powerful means by which we can purify on the levels of body, speech and mind — we offer prostrations with our body, mantra and supplications with our speech, and bodhicitta intention with our mind. After lunch on the first day, neither food nor water are consumed until sunrise the morning after the final day (please note that adjustments can be made to accommodate medical conditions; please contact us to discuss ahead of the weekend), Also, retreatants take the temporary Eight Precepts throughout the event, as a support for the practice — avoiding killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying, intoxication, eating after noon, using high seats or beds, dancing, singing, wearing perfume or jewelry.
His Holiness the Sakya Trizin Rinpoche commented as follows on the practice of nyungne (lightly edited for conciseness):
“Nyung Nay, or fasting ritual, is a very effective way of purifying the negative deeds. The main deity is Avalokiteshvara, thousand-armed… It is said that even those who have committed very heinous crimes can be purified through this ritual. Not only those who are doing the ritual will receive great benefit, but even those who see such a person, or hear or have any kind of physical or verbal connection to the people who are doing the ritual, will also benefit in great ways. Therefore it is a very, very effective way…
It is actually a lower tantric practice, mainly emphasizing outer and physical activities. Some people said those who are practicing higher tantras should not do (nyung nay). That is not true. Although in the higher tantras it is said one should not make oneself suffer from fasting and so on, it is just a matter of different motivation. The Buddha who possesses infinite wisdom and compassion, through his skillful means, has given us such a method in order to purify negative deeds. Although we practice higher tantra, we are still very ordinary people, and we don’t have any kind of confidence. So therefore purification is very important.
….by doing this two-day fasting and meditation retreat, the time one will spend in samsara is shortened by 40,000 aeons, ….. and if one practices the entire ritual correctly as it is written, they will produce the root of merit tens of millions times hundreds of thousands of Buddhas…”
TIME: 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning until 5:00 p.m. Sunday evening (retreatants continue with the vows and fasting until Monday sunrise).
Retreatants are welcome to arrive on Friday evening from 7:30 p.m, but no dinner will be provided, only self-serve breakfast Saturday.
You can also stay over on Sunday night, for a self-serve breakfast Monday, if you prefer not to drive home on an empty stomach.
COSTS: Charges below are per person for ENTIRE event. Prices include two days of teachings, text and accommodations from Friday evening to Monday morning, with optional self-serve breakfast on Saturday and Monday. NO OTHER MEALS ARE PROVIDED.
Please bring your own VEGETARIAN brown bag lunch for Saturday.
Standard Price
$60 overnight in dorms
$110 single/$85 double occupancy private room with bath
CGF Member
$45 overnight in dorms
$85 single/$65 double occupancy private room with bath
Please consult with a medical professional if you have any questions or concerns about your physical or mental ability to do a fasting retreat, or have previously experienced issues when fasting.
For more information on attending retreats with us, see Doing Retreat at Ati Ling
For questions, please write to events@atiling.org.
The practice of nyungne is traditionally often undertaken multiple times, and those interested in following up this practice more intensively may be interested in attending the June nyungne retreat in northern California with Lama Padma at CGF Rigdzin Ling.