Vision
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The Mahasiddhi Retreat Center will serve as a retreat and educational facility for both new and experienced students of the buddhadharma. Plans include all facilities necessary for groups of about fifty and individual retreats, classroom space, an extensive library, a computer center and a publication office.
Mahasiddhi will host frequent programs directed by The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche and other lineage masters, such as Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Khenchen Petse, and Alak Zenkar Rinpoche. Visiting teachers and senior students will offer classes on a regular basis such as Tibetan language, classical Tibetan debate and logic and thangka painting. These programs will generate revenue for operating and maintaining the Center which will also host programs for other organizations.
Retreat Practice
The natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest is ideal for the pursuit of
traditional Buddhist study and retreat practice. While Mahasiddhi will
schedule group retreats regularly, opportunities for individual short-term
and long-term retreats will also be available. The property will accommodate
a number of retreat cabins, which The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche has agreed
to design. Upon reaching specific agreements with the retreat center,
individuals may be permitted to construct their own cabins on the land.
Library and Translation
For many years, The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has assisted Western
translators with their dedicated efforts to translate Tibetan texts into
precise English and German. Mahasiddhi will facilitate this important work
and collaboration, and will supplement the library established at Nalanda West which houses Rinpoche's extensive collection
of Tibetan texts. The establishment of such a library and learning center
will allow scholars and translators to study these rare texts in their
original form. The opportunity for scholars, translators, and students to
meet on a regular basis will generate an atmosphere for the inspired
exchange of knowledge.
Research and Computer Center
Since 1994, Rinpoche has been working with leading Tibetan scholars to
preserve Tibetan educational resources using computerized technologies.
Through Nitartha international, a nonprofit educational corporation,
Rinpoche has brought software developers and technology experts together
with Tibetan monks, scholars and editors. The Center will supplement to activity of Nitartha at Nalanda West, continuing to draw on the resources from one of the most fertile technology corridors in the world, will greatly facilitate
Rinpoche¹s activities in utilizing modern technology to preserve the ancient
wisdom of Tibet. For more information, see our websites: www.nalandabodhi.org and www.nitartha.org.
Publishing
One of the methods most necessary to the preservation of the wisdom of the
Buddhist teachings of Tibet is the publication of endangered texts. In 1997,
Nitartha international published its first Tibetan language text,
Presentation of Lorik and Takrik: The Essence of the Ocean of Traditions of
Logic (blo rig and rTags rigs), by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. Its second text, Mahamudra: The Ocean of Wisdom, an English language translation of the classic Tibetan text, Ngedon Gyamtso, is forthcoming. The establishment of the Center, will vastly increase our ability to provide future publications of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche, Nitartha international and Nalandabodhi.
The Arts
The Tibetan cultural arts are rich in their variety of forms. Sacred dance
with elaborate masks and costumes, opera, songs, poetry, yoga, storytelling,
calligraphy, iconographic painting (Tib. thangka), ritual sculpture and
liturgical music are some of the inspirational expressions of the Buddhist
path. Mahasiddhi Retreat Center will gradually begin to offer periodic
instruction in some of these traditions. The library will also collect audio,
video, and photographic archival materials to document these traditions and
provide resources for scholars. An extensive collection of thangka paintings
is being commissioned for the retreat center.
In the tradition of Tibet's most famous saint, Milarepa, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso regularly composes and sings poems (Skt. doha) that arise from meditative experience. For many years he has had his students translate from Tibetan into English the songs of such masters as Padmasambhava, Milarepa, and Gotsangpa. For the past few years, The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche has also been composing dohas and encouraging his students to sing both ancient and contemporary songs.
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