My dharma activities are first and foremost a result of my guru’s
transmission and are based on his command. I never asked him to make me a dharma teacher. Whatever authorization was granted, the
Nyingmapa Yogi Acharya Dawa Chhodak Rinpoche decided to bestow it without being
requested.
I started to be a student of Lama Dawa’s in the summer of 1998. From the very beginning, he did not
talk much about preliminaries to me, although he gave the instructions to the
foundational practices, which took me almost 10 years to complete. Otherwise, he was very free flowing and
creative in his approach. Things
didn’t unfold in the textbook order.
Refuge Lineage
In 2006 in March, out of the blue and thus totally unexpected, Lama Dawa
gave me his refuge lineage and explained to me, how to give refuge to the
Triple Gems properly, in the Dudjom Tersar lineage. Then he pointed out the person to whom I should give refuge
as my first dharma friend, and I did as I was told. The person is still my dharma friend and also was Lama
Dawa’s dharma friend for life and beyond, receiving teachings and empowerments
from him.
Bodhisattva Lineage
At the same time, in 2006, when giving the refuge lineage, Lama Dawa
also gave his bodhisattva lineage and explained how to convey bodhisattva
instructions, in Dudjom Tersar.
Many times he insisted that these are NOT bodhisattva vows, but
instructions! He fine-tuned his
explanations in 2013, adding a few more points, for the first time announcing the
fact of his authorizing me in a wider circle, here in India.
Long Life Prayer
Again absolutely unexpectedly, before our pilgrimage to Mt Malaya in Sri
Lanka, on the occasion of the Goa teachings in February 2014, Lama Dawa
suggested that I should request my few dharma friends who were present at the
time to appeal to him to compose a long life prayer for me, for their benefit. The prayer was composed and delivered
then, in Kathmandu in May 2014, in the Tibetan original, on which basis we
together composed the English translation on the spot. Later Lama Dawa
mentioned that he had sent this prayer also to some other Dudjom Tersar Lamas,
without naming anyone in particular.
Giving Empowerments
In November 2017, one day before he passed into dharmakaya, Lama Dawa
bestowed upon me the transmission and empowerment according to ‘The Wisdom Net
of Traktung Dudjom Lingpa’s” Unelaborated
Verbal Transmission and Empowerment for the Sacred Text. My promise to Lama at the time was,
that I only give empowerment to those who have been my long-term dharma
friends, whom I have accompanied through the foundational Ngondro, and other
challenges.
Activities 2006 to Now
Although Lama Dawa made me promise in 2006 to bestow refuge on anyone
who’d sincerely ask, I have so far only given it around a dozen times. This is mostly due to the fact that I
hardly go out and appear in public. Four of these dharma friends have gone
through the entire Ngondro, and two more are almost complete. There are private Three Roots retreats
regularly happening at my residence.
Two dharma friends have done the complete initial cycle of recitations
of the dakini section of the Khandro Thuktik, two more are now engaged in the
guru section. Some of Lama Dawa’s
Indian students of the past also come and do retreat with me. It goes without saying that along with
teaching I follow my own personal retreat schedule. In addition I sometimes read sutras and other texts upon
dharma friends’ request, for their own and everybody else’s benefit.
Tibetan Yoga
From 1977 to 1987 I was deeply connected with Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche
and the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, California, during which time I
translated five of Rinpoche’s books from English into my native German. As a result of these efforts, in
September 1982 Tarthang Rinpoche told me in a private conversation “you should teach what you have learned at
the Institute in your home country”.
I followed this instruction to begin with in Germany until 1987, in the
framework of his Nyingma Centers. After which time the affiliation with the
organization ceased, albeit not the inner connection to Rinpoche. As I have seen the benefit that
these, let’s say ‘updated’ or ‘streamlined’ Tibetan yogic approaches that I now
call NadiPrana have for people, helping them to become the kind of meditators who
are more at ease with themselves and the overall situation in their lives, I
have been picking up teaching these techniques again since 1998, mostly here in
India, and mostly in privately announced small retreats. My style naturally has changed much in
over 30 years, and now is impregnated and saturated with the precious unborn
and undying presence I was able to spend with Lama Dawa.
Future Activities
What future?
Whatever happens simply has to happen.
Additional Note
This was written for the purpose of clarification, not for soliciting
students.
