On March 20, 2010, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche will lead 14 disciples of Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center, Taipei to Jangchubling, India to perform a retreat there. This will be Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s eleventh time of performing the retreat, as well as the second time that Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche leads disciples to practice the retreat.

Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ever gave the enlightenment: The Drikung Kagyu Order is the lineage that highly stresses the true practices. Normally the ordained people have to perform a three-year-three-month-and-three-day retreat. Retreat practice is very important to a practitioner on the Bodhisattva’s path, as he needs to accumulate merits and virtues usually through performing retreat practices so as to benefit sentient beings. Under the guidance of his Root Guru, His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche has perfectly completed retreats more than10 times.

Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche furthermore gave the enlightenment: The disciples who are going to practice the retreat this time are those who practiced retreat under Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s guidance in March 2009 and also have received Bodhisattva Vows on Jan 30, 2010. The disciplines of the retreat are very strict. They are no speaking, no contacting outside, no looking out of the window, no reacting to crying for help from the neighboring rooms, no bathing, no looking into the mirror, no shaving, no cutting hair or finger nails, no applying soap or scented lotion, and so forth. Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche has ever bestowed the enlightenments: Among the disciples, there are none who are qualified and able to benefit sentient beings yet. One of the objectives of the retreat practice is to let them experience the loneliness similar to the verge of death. When on the verge of death, no matter how many people surround you, even if you are held in someone’s arms, you still feel very lonely. Therefore, through retreat practices, you may slightly know about the feeling and will not be that terrified while facing death. Besides, the training is also to let you enter peace and inspect yourself to dig out your own faults. Such a chance could be almost impossible in your daily lives. You have no idea of your faults. You do not face your problems. Even worse, you would not like to know about them.

During every retreat, His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Root Guru, was nearby the retreat room to bestow his blessings upon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. Upon the perfect completion of each retreat, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche always offered all the virtues and merits accumulated during the retreat to his Root Guru, His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche, and reported the signs that had manifested during the retreat to His Holiness, who then recognized Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s accomplishment in true practice and true realization. In 2009 after the perfect completion of the retreat, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche led disciples to pay a reverent visit to His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche. His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche bestowed the enlightenment: “it is very rare for a guru and his disciples to practice together here.” This time leading the disciples of Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center to perform the retreat practice, in the meanwhile, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche himself will also perform retreat in the retreat room and look after disciples’ practice. Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s care for disciples is in all aspects and life after lives.

Updated on March 17, 2010