Retreat in Pema Kod, Arunachal Pradesh, India

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Pema Köd Meditation Retreat Programs

Tulku Orgyen proposes the establishment of a renewed program of very extensive practice and study in Pema Köd as in the days of Togden Sithar. The program will entail the complete support of all resident practitioners in retreat who sincerely undertake the pure practice of Buddhadharma on this land. After the temple reconstruction has been completed, Tulku Orgyen will revitalize ongoing dharmic activities in the temple and transfer the obligations for its care to practitioners of the new generation.

Comprehensive retreat programs from one to three weeks, six months, and three years will be established. Each of these programs will be a complete standalone program. The programs will be designed for those who are not fully under the domination of the eight worldly concerns. Participants will already have some degree of altruism and a wholehearted, pure interest in pursuing the path of liberation. It is one of my highest hopes that my friends who visit this land, particularly those interested in participating in any of the retreat programs, will have some of these qualities from the onset. Once our retreat practice starts, much emphasis will be placed on all participants becoming pure Dharma practitioners for the rest of their lives.

Finally, as a separate venture, Tulku Orgyen intends to one day return to Togden Sithar's retreat land in Powo, in southern Tibet. There, perched upon the spectacular slope of Mount Yuri, Tulku aspires to undertake the same solitary retreat accomplished in his previous lifetime as Togden Sithar, and to reestablish a wide range of Buddhadharma practices and practitioners in that region, just as he did in his past life. Tulku Orgyen counts all of these plans among his highest aspirations. He wishes most fervently that they one day become a reality. Whatever dharmic activities he may undertake beyond these, he considers his further contribution to spreading the Buddhadharma.

Pema Kod, Hidden Land is regarded as one of the most sacred places in the world, radiating Guru Rinpoche's blessings, where any accumulation of merit is said to be multiplied many times over. This holy land is described by Ian Baker in his book, The Heart of the World. The new temple is being built in the southern part of the hidden land, located in the extreme northeast region of India, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, a region untouched by the outside world.

Togden Kunzang Longdrol Rinpoche, Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok's previous incarnation, was one of the most venerated yogis in Southern Tibet. He spent his entire life wandering from retreat land to retreat land. As political turmoil broke out in Tibet, he fled to this part of the hidden land where he spent the remainder of his life. Due to his presence and a growing number of students, this part of the sacred hidden land evolved into a retreat land. Togden Rinpoche built this temple on the land "Deden Tashi Choling," in which he not only preserved the sacred objects and relics from Tibet but, most importantly, the Dudjom lineage itself. In time, this temple became the second most important lay-oriented, or "Ngakpa," gathering place in the Pema Kod region.

During his lifetime, it was Togden Rinpoche's aspiration to build a three-story temple in the style of Guru Rinpoche's Pureland Palace, Zangdok Palri. Due to Togden Rinpoche's advanced age, limited funds and natural resources, all he could accomplish was the creation of the one story temple, and the Three Kaya statues--Amitabha, Chenrezig, and Padmasambhava--that were to be placed in each of the three stories of the temple to be built by his students in the future. For the benefit of all beings, for the preservation of the spiritual legacy of this sacred land, and particularly for the fulfillment of Togden Rinpoche's aspiration, it is Tulku Orgyen's wish to undertake the tremendous task of constructing the three-story sanctuary that Togden Rinpoche envisioned.

Bamboo Cabin for Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche at the Retreat Land in Pemakod

Since Rinpoche was a child, it has been his most cherished, heartfelt wish to return to Pemakod. Rinpoche frequently speaks about his earlier wishes to "wander about" in Pemakod, but due to some unfortunate circumstances, he was unable to do so. Now that Rinpoche has the freedom and ability to return to Pemakod, it is our highest priority to fulfill Rinpoche's every wish, which includes staying in a bamboo cabin such as the one we will be constructing for him at the retreat land in Yoldong.

Map : http://www.maplandia.com/india/arunachal-pradesh/#medium

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Our legends tell us that Tibet, the Land of Snows is analogous to a supine ogress outstretched on her back. In the upper torso of her body lay the heart of Ngari, and Tsang. In her lower torso are the legs of Do Kham, China and Mongolia. In her secret place is Er Lang Ri and her head arises as the immaculately pure glacial snows of Mount Kailash. In her cardinal and intermediate directions, she is surrounded by the twenty-five sacred Neychen containing the mysterious and unknown abodes of the gods. Out of all of these obscure and mystic places, that which is most pre-eminent and supreme amongst all the hidden valleys in the Land of Snows is the Beyul Pema-ko - resplendent and agape like an immaculate lotus flower.

It is from this then, from the center of China and Mongolia, Do Kham, U and Tsang that the wondrous body of the sublime Dorje Pagmo arises. Her head is renowned as the, "glorious mountain" south of Kongpo. Her neck is Pema Dzong and Orgyan Puk and her heart is the spontaneously arisen palace of great bliss. Her navel is Trakar Tashi Dorje Dzong and her secret place is a mountain of crystal lotuses. All of these are the wondrous display of the three channels and five chakras of her Vajra body. Furthermore, arrayed in the ten directions surrounding her form are the Beyuls of Yagu Lung and the glorious Beyul Dre-mo 'jong (Sikkim). In addition to these realms which emerge from her wondrous display are the five large valleys and six continents of Arya Jong, Go'o Jong, Khenpa Jong and Bachak Sher-ri Jong each of which are the five types of spontaneously arisen grains and cereals.

In the future, as the complex necessities and riches of the world increase, there will remain two great Neychen into which the foreign invaders will fail to reach. These are the Beyul Dre-mo 'jong (Sikkim) and the Beyul Pema-ko. Contained herein is a concise guide for finding their door and entering their valleys here in the Land of Snows.

Read more at : http://www.snowlionpub.com/pages/N64_20_2.html

At that time Guru Rinpoche is said to have tamed the local spirits of the place, to have concealed treasures there for future generations and in particular to have predicted that the land of Pemakö would be opened up by future treasure revealers the emanations of his twenty-five disciples so that those of good karma would be able to settle there and engage in their spiritual practice undisturbed.

Guru Rinpoche predicted being a place where eternal youthfulness and
success in religious practice could be attained, especially when Tibet would be befallen by calamities. The gateway to this place is none other than DevakoIa, and Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche’s work in Payingdem can be seen as a preparation to enter that most secret of secret lands.

Read more at :
http://www.nyingma.com/ogyan-cho-khor-ling/A%20Brief%20Pilgrimage%20to%20Pemako.pdf

The Pemako is consecrated to the female divinity of Dorje Phagmo and its sacred geography is mapped to the body of this sleeping Goddess. Her head is the Kangri Kangpo, her two breasts is Namche Barwa and Gyala Peri respectively. The lower part of her body lies in Yangsang or the innermost pemako which is the upper Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh. In the confluence of Siang (Tsangpo) and Yangsang is the sacred triangle Kila Yangzom the secret place of Goddess Dorje Phagmo. This the supreme of sacred lands is now open to the world to discover and marvel.

Every year pilgrims traverse the area on Kora (circumbulation). Covering the sacred Devakota, the gathering place of Dakinis, The holy Titapori mountain, Pemashree and Riu Tala (Eko Dumbing for Adis).After an arduous trekking of 4 days one reaches the sacred Titapori Mountain at 14,000 ft. The landscape here forms a fully opened lotus. In the lake of Danakosha there is the Citta Island, ‘the heart of the world’. According to ancient pemako guide book; upon merely seeing this place ones obscurations of knowledge will be cleared and negative Karma accumulated over a thousand eons will be purified.

From here one have breathtaking view of the majestic Himalaya range with Namche Barwa peak and Kondu Dosem Potrang the mythical palace of Dorje Sempa in the north, the Pemashree and the Eko Dumbing or Riu Tala of the Abroka range towards west and south respectively.It is a treasure trove of flora and fauna with all kinds of medicinal and aromatic plants and rare flowers. It is also a Rhododendron fairyland. 44 new species was discovered here in 2005. Wildlife: Goral, Takin, Musk deer, Snow leopard, Tiger.