The Apprentice Programme of

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo

Information and Application Form

 

‘The atmosphere of the vajra family is highly important.   Every effort is made to ensure that the characteristic spirit of fierce appreciation and exuberant participation is maintained and continually renewed.   The ethos of enthusiasm is crucial to the evolution of Spacious Passion.   Becoming an apprentice encourages the sense that one’s life should be lived in the richest possible way — engaged at the level of optimal fulfilment and impeccable verve.’  — Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen.

‘Anyone can become an apprentice as long as they are willing to enter fully into the spirit of what that means.’ — Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje     

Introduction

The following information has been specially developed for the benefit of people who are considering becoming apprentices.   The text has been continually revised and expanded since 1986.   It is intended to provide as much information as possible to help individuals reach a mature decision about their interests.   Apprenticeship is a commitment which ought to demonstrate a balanced and insightful understanding of one’s orientation.

The Apprentice Programme extends, currently, to four individual sanghas.   These sanghas are intimately interconnected, functioning under the guidance of three teaching couples.   They are the sanghas of Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen in Britain and the USA: 

Ngak'chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo in continental Europe and Scandinavia: 

Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal'gyür Wangmo

Ngala Nor’dzin and Ngala ’ö-Dzin in Britain:

Ngala Nor'dzin & Ngala 'ö-Dzin

and Ngakma Shardröl Du-nyam Wangmo in the USA:

Ngakma Shardröl Du-nyam Wangmo

The Confederate Sanghas of Aro also includes an informal association of charitable or not-for-profit organisations in Britain, the USA, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Spain, with further individual apprentices in other countries.   These organisations and groups follow the Nyingma Vajrayana teachings of the Aro Tradition, which means principally the Aro gTér together with gTérma teachings from earlier historical Aro Lineage Holders.   

Before defining the nature of the apprenticeship programme, the word ‘apprentice’ needs to be explained.   Apprentice is a translation of the Tibetan word gétrug (dGe phrug).   Gé’trug signifies a person in training, a prior stage before becoming dorje nö-lob (rDo rJe dNos sLob), a disciple.   The gétrug mode means practising Vajrayana without having taken the fourteen Root Vows, but whilst living and practising within the atmosphere of the vows, taking the opportunity to experiment privately in keeping the vows, but without commitment.   A gétrug is thus an apprentice tantrika. 

The apprenticeship programme is unique in various ways, and this text sets out to give detailed information on the character, personality, and evolution of this approach to Vajrayana within the Nyingma Tradition.   The apprenticeship programme offers access to a system of teaching which is both traditional and highly untraditional.   It is traditional in that its teachings and practices have their origin in a specific Vajrayana lineage, the Aro gTér lineage of Khyungchen Aro Lingma.   

Khyungchen Aro Lingma

It is untraditional in that its approach to teaching and practice is deliberately and specifically offered in a Western context by Western Lamas.   Their approach is based on the validity of contemporary and non-academic language.   The Lineage Holders, Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, devote a great deal of their time to writing particular source material for all the apprentices within the Confederate Sanghas of Aro, as do the other Aro Lamas:  Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje’s first book Dangerous Friend was published in 2001.

Dangerous Friend, cover

The apprentice programme formulates interpersonal dynamics which reflect the heterodox social milieu of the beginning of the twenty-first century.   This is essential if the programme is to succeed in addressing our particular Western problems and potentialities.    For example, the programme acknowledges the rich history of art and culture in the West and seeks to make use of their underlying impulse.   Vajrayana, of necessity, must look to the creative arena of Western civilisation to find contexts in which it can be experienced.   This was the approach it managed successfully in India, Tibet and other Himalayan kingdoms.   This proactive, transformative approach is of the very nature of Vajrayana.   The apprenticeship programme exists for those who are interested in the Nyingma ngak’phang tradition, and who wish to have close access to their Lamas.   The programme suits those who would find it valuable to study and practise with Western Lamas, rather than those who would assume greater validity in accessing the teachings from an Asian source.   It suits those who want to integrate their religion with a relatively normal life in the West, where career and family choices demand to be taken into consideration with one’s spiritual initiative and commitment.   This suits people with a capacity for long term enthusiasm, commitment, and personal responsibility;  and those who wish to play an active, creative part in the evolution of a generous, kind-hearted, lively association of people. 

The Ngak’phang Sangha

The ngak’phang sangha, also known as the gö-kar-chang-lo’i-dé (gos dKar lCang lo’i sDe — ‘white skirt, long hair’), is little known in the West.   The word ngak’phang means ‘mantra-brandishing’ and describes those who belong to practice lineages based on the Tantras of the Nyingma tradition, which was the original stratum of Buddhism in Tibet.   The ngak’phang sangha was instituted by Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel.   It is also known as the White Sangha, by contrast with the Red Sangha of monks and nuns.   ‘White’ refers to the white shamthab (skirt) of the yogis and yoginis.   The technical term for their division of practise is gö-kar-chang-lo’i-dé — the Order with white skirt and uncut hair.       

Tibetan Ngakpas from Repkong, Tibet

The word ngak’phang is not as well known as gö-kar-chang-lo’i-dé, but we use it in order to spare the general reader.   The ngak’phang sangha consists of Ngakpas and Ngakmas, Naljorpas and Naljormas;  ordained but non-celibate practitioners of Vajrayana.   Ordained Ngakpas and Ngakmas wear robes which are similar in style to monastic robes, but immediately recognisable by their different colours.   Aro Naljorpas and Naljormas wear a costume which is slightly different from the Ngakmas and Ngakpas in respect of the waistcoat.   

Ordained ngak’phang practitioners have their own commitments, based on the fourteen Root Vows of Vajrayana.   These vows do not apply to apprentices unless the decision is made to take ordination.   It becomes possible to apply for ordination after at least seven years of apprenticeship have elapsed, in which time one’s commitment must have been shown to be consistent and to have stood the test of life’s difficulties under the teachers’ guidance. 

The monastic style dominates the teaching of Vajrayana Buddhism in the West, as it did in Tibet.   Many people therefore remain unaware that Vajrayana is a Vehicle or complete path of practise in itself, irrespective of the monastic lifestyle.   Vajrayana includes the vehicles of Tantra and Dzogchen.   Tantra follows the path of transformation rather than the Sutric principle of renunciation, and is very well suited to people who are inspired to practise but have no inclination toward celibacy or retiring from society.   The nature of the Dzogchen teaching style means that there is an emphasis on incorporating practice, moment by moment, into everyday working and family life, and transforming all life situations into the path.

With their son Henry (Akyong Rig'tsal Takjung)

Evolution

Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo have a primary concern for the future and evolution of Buddhism in the West, and in this they seek to enact the vision of their Root Teachers Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen.   Aro Lineage Lamas work with their students to create an individual context of practice that is both radical and creative.   What they have established functions happily, because it has grown organically out of the hard work and kind-hearted commitment of a small number of enthusiastic people, some of whom, as you have read, go on to be ordained.   Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo have been saddened to meet or hear about people elsewhere whose financial or family circumstances have prevented any real sense of being involved with other Lamas or their sanghas.   Because of this, they feel it important to support an alternative model in which the teacher-student relationship can flourish in a healthier manner.   Because of the problems inherent in large student numbers, the Aro Lamas put a limit on the total number of their apprentices so that they do not become more numerous than the size of, say, an extended family:  they have proposed the number 84, a symbolic choice, as it was the number of the Indian Mahasiddhas.   This reflects how many people they think it possible to know individually.   The decision that the Lineage would take this form was based on the great importance of being able to relate as personally as possible to every apprentice.   It has been a crucial consideration for Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo that the teacher-student ratio be kept small, so as to enable a return to the original manner of transmitting, teaching and practicing Tantra.   An extended family may seem a large number to those unfamiliar with the Vajrayana teachings, but those with experience of study and practice in the West will know that Lamas often have student bodies that number in the hundreds, and even thousands. 

Radiance of the crystal

It may come as a surprise to learn that originally the Vajrayana teachings and empowerments were never given to large groups of people.   Such teachings were not practised outside the context of a close teacher-student relationship.   Because of this, the decision to work with limited numbers represents a return to the authentic functioning of the Tantric relationship and a movement away from spiritual imperialism;  meaning¸ in this context, enacting one’s practice at a remote distance from the supreme holder of authority in a hierarchical religious organisation.   On the basis of limited student numbers it is only possible for the Confederate Sanghas of Aro to grow laterally.   For example, it is enshrined in the constitutions of the UK charity Sang-ngak-chö-dzong, that it cannot grow in a pyramidal fashion, even under the overall direction of Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen.   Every ngak’phang disciple who completes the thirteen year teacher training programme (and is given authority to teach his or her own apprentices) has an equal ‘organisational voice’ with Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen.

Personal students of the Aro Lamas are called apprentices (gé’trug). This appellation (defined earlier) distinguishes them from the students of other teachers, and from people who attend public Aro retreats on an informal basis.   The Confederate Sanghas of Aro came into being because there was a noticeable interest in founding an environment where Vajrayana could be explained in ways to make it more accessible.   The Aro Lamas’ primary wish, which they believe to be possible, is for an association of practitioners who can work, play, and practise together in a spirit of real kindness and friendship.   They believe that it must be possible to eliminate tendencies such as gossip, ‘dharma’ politics, gratuitous advice and criticism, cliques, inner circles, elitism, sectarianism, and self-righteousness.   They believe that it is crucial to eliminate socially dysfunctional mechanisms such as the assumption of an ‘artificial Buddhist personality’, or the cultivation of a style of piety designed for the enhancement of one’s self-image.   The adoption of an ‘artificial Buddhist personality’ is unnecessary when, in order to be accepted in the group, it is only necessary to become one of them, an apprentice.   The result of this is that the apprentice group contains a wide range of personalities and styles of expression, united by an interest in practice, the teachings, the lineage, and kind-heartedness.

When Ngak’chang Rinpoche returned to the West in 1975 it was with Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche’s instruction to teach, and to establish the Nyingma ngak’phang tradition in the West.   It was Düd’jom Rinpoche who wrote the name Sang-ngak-chö-dzong (Secret Fortress of Awareness-Spell) and gave it to Ngak’chang Rinpoche as a name for the original foundation in Britain, and a blessing for undertaking that great project.   

 

Kyabjé Dud'jom Rinpoche  Drupchen Aro Yeshé 

The beginnings of Ngak’chang Rinpoche’s teaching grew organically through invitations from people who came to hear about him by word of mouth.   Ngak’chang Rinpoche was recognised as the incarnation of Aro Yeshé, by Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoche;

  

Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche  'a-Shul Pema Legdan

and as the incarnation of Aro Yeshé’s predecessor, ’a-Shul Pema Legden, by Kyabjé Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche. 

The Aro Tradition

The Aro lineage originated in the vision of Khandro Chenmo (Great Dakini) Yeshé Tsogyel, the sang-yum or spiritual consort of Padmasambhava.   Padmasambhava is known in the Nyingma Tradition as the second Buddha. He was the founder of Buddhism in Tibet, and the Nyingma (ancient) Tradition represents the first spread of Buddhism there, when it surged with the spiritual dynamism engendered by Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel.   In this lineage, it is Yeshé Tsogyel and her incarnation and emanations who are of primary importance.   She is regarded as the Mother of enlightened experience, and the most inspiring example in the Tantric tradition of the profound capacity of women.   She was the first Tibetan woman to achieve Buddhahood and has had numerous incarnations and emanations in various Vajrayana schools, in Tibet and the other Himalayan countries, right through to the present day.

  

Yeshé Tsogyel     Padmasambhava

As far as most people are aware, the dominant spiritual culture of Tibet appears to be male. Although this portrait is not entirely inaccurate, it does not convey either the spiritual dynamism evolved by women or the existence of very small family lineages, in which women were spiritually very influential indeed.   Apart from the many individual female practitioners and teachers in Tibet there were also small lineages that existed alongside the major ones of the Nyingma Tradition.   These were the minor lineages of mountain recluses, both male and female.   There were hidden female lineages that passed down from mothers to children, rather than through incarnation lines.   This particular lineage of teachings and practices is one such.   It is primarily a lineage of extremely unusual women, wisdom-eccentrics, who were either solitary, or married recluses;  hence the lineage’s proper title, the Mother-Essence Lineage.   The current holders of the Mother-Essence Lineage are the married Lamas Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen Tsédrüp Yeshé, the Root Teachers of Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo.

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo 

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje is a married yogi of the Nyingma Tradition and an ordained Ngakpa, a robe-wearing member of the non-monastic Vajrayana sangha.   He has engaged in intensive study, practice, and retreats under the guidance of the lineage holders of the Aro gTér, his Root Teachers, Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen, and other high Lamas, including Kyabjé Chhi’med Rig’dzin Rinpoche, one of the five Root Teachers of Ngak’chang Rinpoche.

Kyabjé Chhi’med Rig’dzin Rinpoche

They have encouraged him to teach and empowered him to give transmissions. Since 1990 Nga-la Rig’dzin Dorje has been accepting personal apprentices, and engaged intensively with the outer practice of being a servant of the ngak’phang sangha.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje has been recognised as the rebirth of Ngakma Rig’dzin Gong-tsal Takmo, a yogini who was known for her power of wrathful practice and her therapeutic skills, such as her ability of healing with song. Rig’dzin Takmo was one of the five foster-mothers of the Mahasiddha Aro Yeshé, the previous rebirth of Ngak’chang Rinpoche. 

Rig'dzin Gong-tsal Takmo

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje has considerable experience in the practice of the inner Tantras, and is known for his power of voice in the core practice of Tantric song and mantric melody. He continues Rig’dzin Takmo’s practice of the Aro gTér system of health diagnosis through the elemental pulses. This includes producing mantra medication for the relief of a wide range of problems in physical and psychological health. He is known for his reliability in teng-mo, oracle predictions performed with mantra-beads.   His book ‘Dangerous Friend’: the Rôle of the Teacher in Vajrayana Buddhism was published by Shambhala in 2001.

Tsal'gyür Wangmo

Tsal’gyür Wangmo is one of a small number of a thangka-painters training with Khandro Déchen.   She hosts apprentice retreats with Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje and co-authors all their apprentice correspondence, in all of which she is appreciated for her kindly life-advice and generous personal presence.   She has a considerable rôle in pastoral care of apprentices, and in the means and manner of all the sangha’s activities, creative, interpersonal, recreational and organisational.   

Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo are currently spiritual directors of sanghas in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden, with individual apprentices further afield.   

Aro Ga’dzong  arogadzong.com

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo live in Italy.   In the Appenines of northern Toscana they have turned a large sixteenth century house into a retreat venue for their apprentices and the public called Aro Ga’dzong, ‘Stronghold of Joy, Tasting of the Primordial’.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo view and employ this house, its idyllic environment and surrounding culture as practice supports.   Their teachings and transmisions there particularly aim to fulfil the final comprehensive instructions which Padmasambhava gave to the yogis and yoginis of Tibet, to ‘practice through the sense-fields’.       

Aro Ga’dzong and village   Valley view

The Hidden Land of Yeshé Tsogyel 

The European sangha of Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje and Tsal’gyür Wangmo also owns forty acres in the Hidden Land of Yeshé Tsogyel in north west Montana, USA.   This is a special environment for Dzogchen practice pointed out by Düd ’jom Rinpoche, where one can spontaneously practice with one’s own nature, reflected in the magnificent display of the outer elements.   In 2007 onwards the teachers and sangha will make their second pilgrimage to these unique, breathtaking surroundings.   They plan to continue with regular visits to learn and practice the skills necessary to look after the environment and preserve it as a place of practice and sustainable lifestyles for future generations.

Glacier National Park, MT 

The Apprentice Programme 

The apprentice programme means that you have a relationship with a spiritual teacher who recognises your face immediately, remembers your name, knows who you are, and knows about your life and your practice.   In Tibet, it was not difficult for committed practitioners to get advice and guidance from Lamas.   But in the West it is rare to have a close personal connection with a spiritual teacher.   It is often difficult to establish such a bond when teachers tend to become busy international travellers, the focus of an ever-increasing number of students, so that pupil-teacher ratios grow to be extremely high.   Sometimes the students may be scattered across several continents, so that they are only able to see the teacher quite rarely and briefly, and not necessarily in times of crisis.   Personal correspondence may also be doubtful, with teachers who seldom stay long at one address, or are in retreat, or beyond the reach of reliable post or telecommunications.   These factors can make it difficult to taste the real nature of the relationship, a relationship which is considered absolutely indispensable for the effective practice of inner Tantra.   

Among the yogis and yoginis of Tibet it was the custom to work with small groups of close apprentices.   This was the manner in which Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo received their own training, and they feel that the benefits of such a method are so valuable that it is vital to maintain the tradition.   They will follow their Root Teachers’ practice of limiting the maximum number of their personal students to eighty four.   That is the size of the average extended family gathering, and the symbolic number of the Indian tantric Mahasiddhas.   This may seem a somewhat arbitrary choice, but it reflects the number of people that it is possible for one teacher to know individually.   Many of the well-known Lamas number their students in the thousands. 

Mahasiddha consorts, Virupa & Nairatna

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo reserve their time mainly for ordained disciples;  for their apprentices;  for their vajra brothers and sisters (the disciples and apprentices of Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen);  and for anyone who is considering one of those paths.   It is of course always possible to attend talks, courses and open teaching retreats without becoming an apprentice.    On these occasions Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo are always happy to give time to any individuals who need it. 

Becoming an apprentice, in the sense of the programme that is explained here, means having a relationship not solely with one teacher but with a whole family of inner Tantric practitioners.   In this relationship, the lived meaning of the teaching becomes manifest, through joyful and vivid commitment to the path in the company of the teachers.   As Tantric practitioners, Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo teach through dynamic personal instruction, group question and answer sessions, shared meditation and Tantric song, and by being among their apprentices, teaching through the simple spontaneity of any informal situations whatsoever. 

Apprenticeship is the heart of this lineage, which came into being out of an interest in explaining the Tantric teachings so as to make them accessible to ordinary people.   It always seemed possible that there might be an association of practitioners who could work and play together in a spirit of real kindness and friendship. It ought to be possible to undermine harmful tendencies, such as gossip, ‘dharma’ politics, the giving of gratuitous advice and gratuitous criticism, the formation of cliques and inner circles, elitism, sectarianism, self-righteousness, the cultivation of a style of piety designed for the enhancement of self-image, and other such types of dysfunctional interpersonal behaviour.   The spirit of apprenticeship is such that the adoption of an ‘artificial Buddhist personality’ is not only not required, but is mercifully almost nonexistent.   It is unnecessary because, in order to be accepted among the body of apprentices it only necessary to become one and belong.   This has resulted in a wide range of personalities and styles of expression, united by an interest in practice, the teachings, the lineage, and a kind heart. 

Ordination retreat, Netherlands 2000

The Tibetan word Lama means not only the external teacher, but also the internal teacher; that is, our own beginninglessly enlightened nature.    The human teacher’s rôle follows from this, supporting the apprentice on the path towards recognizing the inner Lama.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo encourage their apprentices to recognise both their patterns of confusion and their innate realisation.   They offer a high degree of support when it is needed, but at the same time deliberately avoid making themselves indispensable.   No one can accomplish one’s personal practice except oneself, and apprentices are encouraged to regard the whole of their lives as practice.   This is such an important theme of the apprentice programme that apprentices can expect personal counselling, in quite a conventional sense, to play a large part over a long period of time.   Apprentices’ questions about lifestyle, relationships, choices, emotions and decisions, are treated as having equal importance with questions of View, Meditation and Action. 

Cultivating a knowledge of the tradition, and evolving a strong heart-relationship with the lineage of Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel, are continually emphasised by Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo as indispensable to success in practice and the ultimate realisation of the goal. This heart-relationship takes time to cultivate, so anyone applying to be an apprentice should approach this consideration gently and carefully. 

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo communicate in ordinary everyday language, but it would be wrong to assume that they are offering something other than the core experience of Inner Tantra.   They make this path accessible, but this does not represent some diluted ‘newage’ approach.   It is also important to remember, that although the teachers may be familiar with aspects of western psychology, therapy and counselling, the body of their teaching is not appropriate as an alternative to psychotherapy. 

Ja-lus, calligraphy by Ngak'chang Rinpoche

How the Apprentice Programme Works

Being an apprentice is a personal relationship that can be both joyful and bewildering, supportive and confrontational, relaxed and demanding.   Being an apprentice can be very gentle, but it can also stretch the apprentice’s limitations a little, inspiring the motivation to reach one’s full capacity.   The relationship is potentially unlimited in scope, but whether it is expansive or restricted depends on each individual apprentice.   Anyone can become an apprentice as long as they are willing to enter fully into the spirit of what that means.   A sense of gleeful abandon is required, together with the capacity for determined effort.   One needs to have the kind of spirit that could entertain the idea of going on survival training or a parachute jump.   It is not absolutely necessary to have a bold and fearless personality, because that in itself could emerge as one of the fruits of practice.   But it is absolutely vital to be open and willing.   The characteristics most appreciated and endorsed by Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo are warmth, friendliness, kindness, and humour.   They encourage their apprentices to make real friendships among the vajra family, and to show an open, welcoming, and generous spirit to new apprentices. 

What is of greatest value in becoming an apprentice is enthusiasm, and commitment to the path as the form of practice, powered by a heartfelt inspiration that could become lifelong, or lives long.   The nature of becoming an apprentice is based on the willingness to be guided, combined with freedom and personal responsibility.   It is very much a two-way street.   Commitment is of more value if it has long duration, not just brief intensity.   When thinking about taking up any spiritual practice, it is important to consider that perhaps some tradition may exist in which, ultimately, one could decide to spend the rest of one’s life.   One could be ‘reborn’ into that tradition, and eventually die in it, with the aspiration of being reborn into it once again.  

Applicants for the apprentice programme are people who are prepared to taste something highly specific:  what it is to become Tantric Buddhists in the Nyingma ngak’phang sangha of Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel.   This means that becoming an apprentice is not suitable for anyone who wants to keep up an involvement in a variety of systems, religions, orientations or directions, whether traditional or ‘newage’.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo try to help apprentices make their lives less complicated.   This helps prevent the further twist of suffering which inevitably comes from the mutual conflict that exists between all systems of thought, or lifestyles, or worldly refuges.   One way in which Buddhism defines itself is by specifically rejecting the idea that all forms of thought can be synthesized into a single comfortable whole.   A theme from the beginning to the end of the Buddhist path is to reduce the tension from clinging to relative forms that conflict with the path of practice.    

The bell & dorje of Jomo Menmo, treasures of the lineage

As in any course of study, being open to guidance means examining one’s ideas about philosophy, religion, psychology, society and reality.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo tend to question the unexamined aspects of apprentices’ concept-consciousness, such as the emotional attachment to structures of thought, which the apprentice may be trying to keep partitioned from the process of practice.   One consideration, therefore, before applying for apprenticeship, is how far one is prepared to question the fabric of any perception or belief system that one may hold;  and how one imagines one might feel when the teachers inevitably raise questions of that nature.   An apprentice cannot continue to cling to rigidly defined personal codes of behaviour, or attitudes, or concepts, if these are not open to the process of practice.   They cannot be regarded as a refuge.   This implies that the apprentice is genuinely engaged in practicing correctly. 

The Mother-Essence Lineage was established with the special objective of creating opportunities for women.   Particular emphasis is placed on practicing in the context of work and family life, especially encouraging women with children and/or jobs to engage in training in the lineage.   This prophetic view will succeed or fail depending on whether individual female practitioners appear who recognise the lineage as an opportunity for them personally, and if they are prepared to make the necessary effort over a sufficiently long period of time.   In those respects there is no distinction between the genders.   In the Mother-Essence Lineage there is tremendous emphasis on what is called Living the View, and this is regarded as being especially viable for women with families and/or jobs who aspire be practitioners.   Central to this lineage is a tradition of couples practising together, in order to realise the inner female and male qualities within men and women.   This is an intimate and demanding practice, because it may mean bringing the quality and content of one’s relationship to the attention of one’s teachers.

Khandro-Pawo relationship

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo appreciate that their European apprentices share one special characteristic:  communicating with teachers whose first language is different.   They put as much work as is realistically possible into making sure their spoken and written English is understandable without unnecessary difficulty.   But for the teaching programme to function well, the teachers need to be confident that their English is being understood, so that apprentices cannot claim ‘difficulties with the language’ so as to disguise aversion to the View.   The teachers often write specifically in order to stimulate questions.   Personal questions are special learning opportunities.   That has been a vital factor in the teachers’ own apprenticeship, and they are keen to persuade their own apprentices of its irreplaceable value.

Smoking and drugs

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo do not accept smokers, or users of any non-medical or recreational drugs.   Any would-be apprentice must have given up smoking and drug abuse completely before being accepted.   Smoking in particular is considered seriously harmful both physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.   Those in any doubt about this subject are referred not only to the copious orthodox medical literature on the subject, but also to Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche’s pamphlet on smoking, and the essays of several other Vajrayana Lamas.   For anyone who is seriously interested in being an apprentice and seriously wishes to give up smoking, Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje may be able to offer a combination of Tibetan medicine and purification practices. These help to rid the psychic and physical systems of toxins, but only after smoking has been given up in the first place. It needs to be remembered that otherwise it can take as long as seven years to clear the system of such poisons. 

Dorje Sempa yab-yum, a practice used in the purification of smoke pollution

Study

Prospective apprentices should recognise how important it is to be patient while absorbing the symbolic aspects of the path.   It is good to remember that this is meant to be a gradual process, and there is no particular expectation about how long it might take.   The symbolism of the inner Tantras may be vast, but Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo emphasise that one’s spiritual development does not depend on understanding its entire spectrum.   However, if an apprentice does not make enough effort to study the tradition and become familiar with its technical vocabulary, then it is difficult to engage with the real nature of apprenticeship.   In the end, such an apprentice would find that there were no points of inquiry to develop in conversation with the teacher or with fellow apprentices, and those relationships would slowly die.   It is both a question of balance and a matter of personal circumstances.

sKu-mNye: calligraphy by Ngak'chang Rinpoche

For those who are not so familiar with the Tantric tradition of the Nyingma ngak’phang sangha, or of any Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, its symbolic systems can occasionally seem overwhelming.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo always emphasise that there is no need to attempt to know everything there is to know, and especially not to try to learn it overnight.   But there are indeed things to be learned, and without applying oneself to finding out about the tradition one may feel disorientated within it for a long time.   There is a recommended reading list on the apprentice website, graduated according to experience within apprenticeship.   Nga-la Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo always enjoy simplifying the confusion that may naturally arise from studying different — and therefore conflicting — expressions of Buddhist Views.   Knowledge of the tradition, depending on one’s level of study, will reveal how much the visionary lineage of Khyungchen Aro Lingma emphasises and emanates from Dzogchen.   This is dramatically different in flavour from the ritual character of mainstream Vajrayana.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo insist, however, that it is only important to learn the things that one needs to apply oneself.   There is no sense in acquiring information for its own sake if it does not relate to one’s level of practice at the moment.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo often express how staggered they are by their Root Teachers’ profound understanding of Tantric symbolism, and the amazingly condensed but comprehensive range of the lineage teachings.

Symbolic offerings

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo do not object to teaching in the style of lecturers, but they greatly prefer to proceed on the basis of question-and-answer.   The question-and-answer process, both oral and by correspondence, is considered absolutely vital in this tradition.   It has been a most intimate mode of the teacher-student relationship, and an immediate catalyst of transformation, since the age of the Mahasiddhas.   Given the informal, everyday context of the teacher-apprentice relationship, teaching can become spontaneous, creative and intensely personal.   But this also puts responsibility on the apprentice to engage in studying the teachings and the tradition; to accomplish the practices; and to invest in integrating practice with ordinary life.   These are always guaranteed to give rise to questions.   Study and practice go hand in hand, and if either is lacking apprentices find that they are unable either to ask questions themselves or to understand the answers which they hear other apprentices receiving.   These are always signs that one should engage in further study and practice.   But new apprentices should not be easily disheartened.   Apprenticeship is meant to be an opening into new opportunities for knowledge and development. Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo are there to help apprentices assimilate the teachings and apply them in their lives.    If an apprentice stops asking questions, however, the teachers quickly interpret that as a sign that certain core responsibilities of being an apprentice are not being taken to heart.

Bell & dorje rings

Other Vajrayana Connections 

Apprenticeship means that Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo become the main teachers for their apprentices, but they also warmly encourage apprentices to attend the teachings and empowerments of Vajrayana Lamas from any of the Tibetan schools.   This is not meant to distract apprentices from their main orientation, which is to make a base for themselves in this one particular lineage.   But it is valuable to have teachings from other Lamas, not only to widen the scope of one’s studies but to experience the Tantric teachings presented through different personalities.   If the good fortune arises for contact with another Lama, it is courteous to discuss the prospect with your teachers in advance.   They may have some relevant knowledge or advice about how best to absorb and integrate that particular opportunity.   Of course this is not so necessary in respect of, say, an evening talk.   But if an apprentice plans to attend lengthy teachings and series of empowerments these might well involve taking or making vows or practice commitments.   Apprentices are always expected to consult Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo about that possibility in advance.

Commitment of Time

Because holiday time is limited, apprentices should appreciate the need to reserve time every year for apprentice and open retreats, including if possible one of the week-long summer courses.  

Summer retreat, Kännelalp, Switzerland, 2004

The time or resources that apprentices devote to any other hobbies or recreations should not interfere with attending apprentice retreats or other events conducted by Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo.   For the same purpose, apprentices may occasionally need to make the effort to free a little time from work commitments, if this could make a significant difference in being able to travel to important events.   Of course this is not expected if it would involve an unacceptable degree of financial sacrifice, or if it would put an apprentice’s job at risk. 

Effort

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo like to get to know all their apprentices as well as possible, but that inevitably tends to reflect an apprentice’s degree of involvement.   The teachers will discuss individual programmes of study and practice with apprentices, but the teacher-student relationship does not depend solely on the intensity of private practice:  continuity in the commitment of time and energy is a more powerful dynamic in the relationship.   Continuity stresses the utility of engaging in correspondence, coming on courses and helping to organise events.   Unavoidably, a path which declares itself to be an apprenticeship will make demands on the time and energy of apprentices in ways unlike a merely informal uncommitted relationship with a Buddhist teacher.   When a teacher’s sangha is defined only informally, it always happens that a small number of students end up taking most of the responsibility for the time, energy, finance and effort involved in managing the activities of the lineage.   In those conditions, the highly committed students become the only ones who receive much personal contact with the teacher.   In apprenticeship numbers are limited, expressly so that everyone can have equal access to the teacher to whatever extent they desire.   To manage the work of a small apprentice sangha, it is necessary for all apprentices to contribute their resources to a realistic extent.   

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo keenly appreciate that there are phases of life which may restrict involvement in the apprentice programme, to varying degrees.   These include raising children or other family obligations, pressure of work, or training for a career.   As already emphasised, it is well understood that working parents — Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo included — have less free time than other people.   These demands are accepted as part of the practitioner’s life, so they are not regarded as a problem:  far from it, they may even be the ideal conditions for working with the lineage’s special teachings on the subject of integration.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo always take the individual fully into consideration.   They look at an individual’s commitment in a very broad perspective, embracing the full spectrum of changes in the practitioner’s life.   Even so, it is not possible for any apprentice to remain a silent partner or fellow traveller in processes which are always being carried forward by others.

The lineage is always engaged in activities to bring into existence the manifold visions of the Dharmakaya Lineage Holders, Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen, and of the tradition of the gö kar chang lo’i dé in general;  an extraordinary range of pressing needs, all dedicated towards establishing the White Sangha in the West.   There is the publicising, management and running of public and apprentice courses;  the maintenance of local contact organisations;   many web- and internet-based projects;  book-publishing and desktop-publishing projects;  transcription and translation tasks;  craft necessities;  and the development of the sangha’s property in the Hidden Land in Montana. 

And the more apprentices the lineage attracts, the more scope the Lineage Holders and Lamas have to propose even further suggestions.   These should not be regarded only as suited to apprentices who already possess relevant training:  they may also be opportunities to develop the relevant skills through the work itself.   One experiences sangha activities arising in the context of one’s practice, one tastes the integration of practice and work, and from this one becomes more confident in carrying that skill into any everyday activities whatsoever.   These activities are doors which are opened within and on account of apprenticeship itself.   Through this principle of integration they are simultaneously openings into transformed personality.   For the ordained of the lineage, work of this kind is a more-than-lifetime commitment.   For the teachers of the lineage it is their vibrant kyil’khor to which their apprentices are introduced.

Informality and Formality

In the Hidden Land, Montana 2004

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo enjoy joining with apprentices on social occasions in such a way that the teachings become interwoven with all aspects of life.   They orchestrate such occasions with that intent.   It is a crucial aspect of being an apprentice to remain aware that all interactions and all time spent in the company of the Lama can be teachings in themselves.   To miss that is unfortunately to miss the whole point of the relationship.   To miss that also means cutting oneself off from the vibrant spirit of the vajra family.

At the Celebration evening of an Apprentice retreat 

Ordination

Apprentices who have studied and practiced with Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo for a minimum of seven years have the opportunity to consider embarking on the path towards Ngakma/pa or Naljorma/pa ordination.   This asks for the completion of certain Tantric practices, retreats, studies, and oral examination.   Ordination represents entry into the ngak’phang tradition, through powerful overt commitments which reflect a strong inner dedication. 

Ngakma/pa empowerment is for those long-term apprentices who wish to explore the endless intricacies of the symbolic universe of Tantra.   It is for those for whom the colour of the tradition and the lineage express such power that they feel no choice but to be part of it at every level of their being.   This includes the vows of robe-wearing and uncut hair, among other Tantric samayas.   Naljorma/pa empowerment has a similar outer appearance, and involves a particular interest in the Dzogchen practices of the lineage including the physical yogas of trül’khor, sKu-mNyé, and A-tri.   

Yogis practising trulkor, mural from the Lukang, Lhasa.

This means a dedication to silent sitting and strenuous physical exercise.   Both ordinations are for those who have realistically come to regard the Lamas as their Root Teachers (Tsawa’i Lama).   They are for those who view the tradition, lineage, and practice as the most important factor in their lives.   The twin fields of ordination are outwardly different, but by no means mutually exclusive.    The sum of their respective outer and inner qualities does not amount to a difference in realisation.

The ‘dangers’ of Vajrayana

This section applies mainly to those who take ordination, but it also applies to any apprentice who decides to take apprenticeship seriously.   Although apprentices are never persuaded towards ngak’phang ordination, they are expected to ‘experiment’ with vajra commitment in their lives as gétrug.

 Experimenting with vajra commitment means that one tries to feel one’s way into the heart of Vajrayana without formally taking vows.   It may be that some apprentices become life-long apprentices without ever taking formal vows, but who in reality live the vows quite sincerely.   It is vital to remember that this possibility exists and that it is how one practises in one’s heart which really matters.

Dorje Tröllo phurba (detail) by Tsal'gyür Wangmo

The Aro Lamas all work on the principle that apprentices are mature adults, capable of accepting responsibility for themselves and their degree of involvement. Vajrayana is known to be a dangerous path, and this fact should be considered. Vajrayana is not dangerous in the sense that rock climbing might be said to be dangerous.   It is dangerous because of the danger which is inherent in oneself. 

The Lamas take their apprentices seriously.   The Lamas attempt to ensure that no-one travels faster or further than their capacity will allow, but they do not cosset their apprentices.   They do not set up a parent-infant relationship with apprentices, and because of this apprentices need to be responsible for how they present themselves.   The Lamas will encourage apprentices according to what apprentices express as their intention, so that intention needs to be self-tested.   The Lamas will certainly probe apprentices in terms of the intention they express, but they will not crush individual enthusiasm merely in order to make a politically correct ‘safe world’ in which no one can hurt themselves on the barbs of their own failed enthusiasm. 

Skull & krigug

The danger of Vajrayana can often be that a person wishes to proceed with practice while overriding, or even as a means of overriding, unresolved psychological issues.   Often such unresolved issues are unknown to the person, but it may also be that one may be in denial of such issues;  and if issues exist, they will definitely surface at some point.   It is at that point one requires confidence in one’s Lama, because to lack confidence at that point usually spells emotional disaster.   It is seen, from the point of view of Vajrayana, that it is entirely possible to practice Vajrayana without having dealt with childhood issues and neurotic patterns, but if this course is taken then there is no turning back without emotional calamity.   One traditional image is that of riding a tiger:  one can ride the tiger forever, or until one becomes a tiger oneself, but one can never dismount.   If one dismounts one is eaten by the tiger;  unless one recognises one’s own tiger-nature.

 

Jomo Pema 'ö-Zer, mother of Khyungchen Aro Lingma

A tiger will not eat another tiger, but if one looks like a meal one will be eaten.   In this analogy it is Vajrayana rather than the vajra master who is the tiger, and being eaten by the tiger means being eaten away by one’s own addiction to the ‘security of personal pain’. 

If one takes refuge in the Vajrayana path one can proceed with great rapidity, simply through maintaining vajra commitment.   But the further and faster one moves, the more impossible it becomes to retract.   If one retracts, the full weight of one’s neuroses rebound at once and at full volume.   One finds oneself having to take refuge in the pain of one’s own neurotic or psycho-pathological state in order to escape the greater ‘terror’ of the tiger of Vajrayana. 

Apprentices are never persuaded in the direction of ordination or to enter into vajra commitment.   However, the ‘temptation’ is there.   It is evident that there is a great deal of inspiration involved in taking vajra commitment and fully entering the stream of Vajrayana.   But to do so is to risk the danger that one will fall foul of the power of one’s own patterns.   The teachers make every effort to ensure that apprentices are adequately prepared, but it should be understood that there is no guarantee that one will not suddenly decide, of one’s own volition and for one’s own reasons, even against advice, to revert to taking refuge in one’s own confusion.   Please pay particular attention to this section, and be prepared to ask questions about it when it comes to being interviewed by the teachers. They will expect you to have considered these issues with extreme care.

The privileges of apprenticeship 

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo give teachings individually and in small groups, based on need, experience, capacity, knowledge and enthusiasm. Becoming an apprentice entitles you to correspond intensively with them, and to receive personal interviews and visits.   Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo write occasional apprentice letters, which keep apprentices informed about their travels, plans and ideas, and the outstanding activities of various apprentices;  interwoven with aspects of teaching that spring naturally out of these topics. 

Being accepted as an apprentice entitles one to attend apprentice retreats.   These are held on a number of occasions every year, in various locations, depending on Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje’s & Tsal’gyür Wangmo’s travel schedules.   The teachers may also suggest their apprentices attend retreats which the other teaching Lamas in the lineage hold for their own apprentices, as and when those are announced to be open to other sanghas.   This is an immensely valuable benefit which reflects the unusual character of the Confederate Sanghas of Aro as a non-hierarchical organisation.

Apprentices are able to enter into a very warm and informal relationship with their teachers.   This would not be so easy or quick to achieve outside the structure of apprenticeship simply because of the number of people that Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo tend to meet on their travels.

Responsibilities of an apprentice

The teachings are considered to be beyond price, so no charge is ever made for them.   Being a Buddhist teacher does not, however, mean magically ceasing to be an economic unit in society.   So, of necessity, part of the practical commitment in being an apprentice is a financial contribution.   The reasons behind this are as follows.   To make the apprentice programme function the way it has been described — select, personal, and relatively intensive — Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje has long devoted the majority of his time to it, and Tsal’gyür Wangmo does so increasingly.   Not being monastic (and probably even if he were) Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje would otherwise be using the main years of his life to earn a living.   But teaching internationally, taking time for retreats, and constantly writing and corresponding, make it impossible to maintain an ordinary full-time job.   Despite that, it is regarded as being most valuable for Western apprentices to have teachers who are not separate from the complex world that they live in themselves.   Otherwise apprentices would never be able to see their teachers as role-modelsw for their own development.   Apprentice contributions therefore help to provide an income which frees the teachers to write, travel and be available to apprentices and to others who have an interest in the teachings, without removing the teachers from the conventions of a Western lifestyle.   Having time to write is crucially important in helping to establish the lineage of the ngak-’phang tradition in the West, because so little literature is currently available on the yogic sangha;  but no one can expect to earn a living from that kind of writing.

Plas Taliaris, Wales, 2004

Suggested subscription figures are therefore given below.   It should be emphasised that these are realistic minimum figures, and those with the resources to offer more are gratefully encouraged to do so, choosing whatever you feel is appropriate.   Generosity is an important quality in spiritual practice, and of the utmost value not only in helping the teachers but also in enabling other people to receive these teachings.   You will be helping to make it possible for the teachers to accept apprentices from among the unemployed, students, people in compulsory military service, retired people, and those in financial difficulty.   It is important that financial hardship should never prevent access to the teachings for people who seriously wanted to commit themselves.   Apprentices in difficult circumstances should not hesitate to write about this to Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo.   They may well be able to suggest other ways of expressing serious commitment, for example by taking on work that helps with the running and development of the lineage.

Leaving Apprenticeship

Becoming an apprentice is not necessarily an unending commitment.   The relationship can be concluded either by the teachers or by the apprentice at any time.   That is not considered to imply a fault on anyone’s part.   But it needs to be emphasised that apprenticeship is not something from which one can come and go indecisively, in dependence on extraneous reference-points or driven by conflicting considerations.   If apprenticeship is ever abandoned, it is not possible to apply for it again in the future.

It is only proper that if apprentices depart it should be after a process of consultation, in person or by correspondence, similar to the process with which the association began.   When entering into discussion about the possible end of the apprentice-teacher relationship, one should still have an open mind about the outcome.   Doubt and uncertainty can be companions for a long way down the spiritual path, but it is not in the spirit of the lineage to relate to them only superficially.   So there is no purpose in beginning this process of discussion if one has already made a final decision.   This is not only a matter of courtesy, but a matter of making the best possible use of one’s relationship with Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje and Tsal’gyür Wangmo.   However, in the course of the discussion process the decision to leave may indeed arise.   

Gateway in the Aro Valley, Hidden Land, Montana

Should one depart, it is worthwhile at this juncture to re-read one’s old apprentice correspondence.   This may sound a strange suggestion, and at the time it may even seem like something to avoid, but it can be extremely helpful.   It is a mirror of how one may tend to prioritise and follow temporary enthusiasms, and express sentiments very sincerely in the moment, which one later retracts.   That is very much the way other human relationships may turn out as well.   In both contexts one comes to admit there may be questions about one’s habit of serial monogamy.

Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo feel that it is important for them to be as helpful as possible during this period of adjustment and transition, even to the extent of suggesting new directions if possible.   Many paths exist, within Vajrayana, within Buddhism as a whole, and within other religions and spiritual practices.   For a departing apprentice Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo would take an egalitarian view of all of them.

Friends of Aro Ga’dzong 

It is not necessary to miss contact with Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo and their teachings if one is not an apprentice.   As well as their public teachings schedule there is an option which is less demanding than committing oneself to the various disciplines and constraints of apprenticeship.   One can continue to support the lineage as a Friend of Aro Ga’dzong.   By making a financial contribution as a Friend of Aro Ga’dzong one plays an important part in the creative unfolding of a unique and dynamic application of the ancient lineage of Tibetan Inner Tantra, as it interfaces with the complexities of modern Western life.   The Confederate Sanghas of Aro follow the Nyingma visionary lineage of Khyungchen Aro Lingma.   They aim to make available the teachings of Inner Tantra in ways appropriate to our time and culture.   This includes creating a Western lineage of Ngakpas and Ngakmas, Naljorpas and Naljormas;  and making the teachings increasingly available to working people with families who are trying to integrate practice with their lives.   In exchange for their financial contributions, Friends receive a credit for double the amount, to set against accommodation costs at Aro Ga’dzong, either for holiday lodging in the guest apartment, or as a discount on board and lodging for public events and courses.   

'a: A: A'a'a: calligraphies by Ngak'chang Rinpoche

Application for Apprenticeship 

with Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo 

Please complete this thoughtfully, in maximum detail, adding any extra pages you may need. Keep a copy for your own records.   Enclose a 13 x 10 cm. portrait photograph, and return your completed application to your nearest Confederate Sanghas of Aro representative.

Name:

Buddhist Refuge Names (if any):

Refuge names given by...?

Address:

Telephone: (home)   

 

(work)   

 

(fax)

 

(e-mail)        

Date of birth:      

Occupation:

Apprentice fees offered:

Three reasons for wishing to be an apprentice:

My 

1)personal qualities 

2)professional skills 

3)practical abilities 

which I feel might be welcome in the vajra family and the Confederate Sanghas of Aro:

Describe any forms of physical, medical, paramedical, psychological, psychiatric, alternative or complementary therapy, counselling or treatment that you may have been receiving over the last three years, and evaluate their progress:

Retreats or talks attended with Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje:

Retreats or talks attended with other lineage Lamas:

Other Lamas with whom you have studied, or from whom you have taken empowerments:

What were the subjects of the courses and retreats that you have attended?

Other Buddhist studies, and current Buddhist practice(s) if any:

Books read on Vajrayana:

Which Buddhist book are you currently reading?

What was the last Buddhist book you bought?

What experience do you have of travel to any of the sacred places of Buddhism?

Previous non-Buddhist teachers, practices and affiliations: