A Powa retreat will take place in Dharma City - Patrul Rinpoche's International Study and Retreat Centre in Belgium, 29 July to 5 August 2009.
The retreat on Powa with Patrul Rinpoche: a brilliant opportunity to study and implement the pith instructions on how to die consciously.
Powa means "Transference of Consciousness". The retreat will focus on the instructions for the dying, on how to attain Buddhahood without meditation
In the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of Powa - the transference of consciousness - is a simple but essential method by which we familiarize ourselves with the stages of death, thus diminishing our fears and preparing for the moment of our death when, with regular training, it will enable us to eject our consciousness into a Pure Land.
At the same time, practicing Powa endows us with the understanding and the means to offer precious help to our friends or loved ones when they are facing death.
In “The Words of my Perfect Teacher”, Dza Patrul Rinpoche considers Powa to be “the teaching that brings Buddhahood without meditation” and advises that “everyone should take this unsurpassable shortcut as their daily practice”.
The Powa retreat requires participants to have taken refuge vows beforehand. It will not be possible to take them during the Retreat. We will study texts including a short ngön-dro (preliminary practice to Dzogchen), an explanation of the ngön-dro by Patrul Rinpoche, the Powa practice itself, various mönlams and the text about Powa from The Words of my Perfect Teacher. Students will be tested on our study material on the first day of the retreat.
The retreat will take place at Dharma City, the International Retreat Centre of Patrul Rinpoche.
Information and enrolment: http://www.zangdokpalriinstitute.org/enrolment/registrationPowa09.htm
