Dzogchen Summer Retreat 2006
concluded successfully on Saturday, August 5 at 1:30pm at the Cedar Ridge Retreat Centerin the wooded hills above the town of Vernonia, Oregon, about 50 miles west of the city of Portland.

The retreat was led by Tibetan Buddhist Lama H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche and was attended by a total of 61 students from the USA and around world, including the countries of Austria, Finland, Taiwan and China.

This year's retreatants were all householders, and included several school teachers, a taxi driver, two MD's, one nurse, a chiropractor, a therapist, a family couselor, a spiritual bookstore owner, a physics graduate student, some other college students, a few business people, two real-estate agents, two landscapers, a ceramic artist, an opera costume designer, a few computer and software technicians, and a pharmacist. Five families brought children, who also participated and attended all the teaching, meditation and activity sessions of the retreat.

The retreat consisted of six practice sessions each day, starting at 7:00 am and concluding at about 10:00 pm. There was some flexibility in the daily schedule, but the basic structure was:

~~~ group preliminary practice and meditation from The Buddha Path ~~~
~~~ group walk and Buddhist yoga and excercise outdoors ~~~
~~~ group teaching on Buddhist subjects ~~~
~~~ small student group or individual Buddhist study or practice ~~~
~~~ group Q&A with Tibetan Lama Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche ~~~
~~~ evening group chanting, music, prayer and meditation practice ~~~

~~~ silence from 10:30pm until the morning practice ~~~

In addition to the regular retreat events, several of the Chinese-speaking students at the retreat worked hard with Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche towards the completion of the Chinese language translation of the Dzogchen Lineage practice manual The Buddha Path.

We rejoice in the sucess of the retreat, with the following special thanks and aspirations:

with endless gratitude to the enlightened intent and holy activities of
H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche,
may you live long and be with us forever.

to Kunzang for organizing this year's event.

to Amanda Wilcox as personal cook for Rinpoche, and general retreat assistance,
for your patience and goodness and quiet dedication that helped us all.

to Shoman for locating the retreat site when we needed it most.
.
to Larry and Britt, the owners of the Cedar Ridge retreat center,
and to the staff there including
especially Sandy, Steve, and Esther
for your exceptional service and kindness.

to all the retreatants, especially our amazing children,
for your good thoughts and efforts.
may all our virtuous aspirations be perfectly fulfilled.


Sarva Mangalam --- May all be auspicious!