Tukdrub Barché Kunsel Ngöndro

In this course, Phakchok Rinpoche presents a comprehensive companion for students seeking to practice the Four Foundations or Ngöndro practice of the Tukdrub Barché Kunsel.

This course is included in the Vajrayana Membership

About This Course

Welcome and congratulations on your commitment to undertake the Ngöndro practice (the Four Foundations) of the Traditional Vajrayāna Path! This course presents a comprehensive introduction to the Tukdrub Barché Kunsel Ngöndro practices.

Generally, Phakchok Rinpoche emphasizes that Four Foundations practice is very important. Students usually are instructed to begin the Ngöndro after several years of daily meditation practice. This experience means one will have had some glimpses of the empty and luminous nature of mind.

Phakchok Rinpoche traditionally guides his students to that level of experience in one or both of two methods. The approach depends on the individual student.

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A student may begin with the mind-training practice and/or the Path of Meditation (Mahamudra) teachings. The student should consult with Rinpoche and the lineage lamas about the best method to proceed.

This approach accords with the tradition of Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. He taught that the Ngöndro practice should be embraced with the experiential view of emptiness.

How To Begin?

To begin the Ngöndro you may express your wish to Phakchok Rinpoche. To do this correctly, you may make an offering and request the reading transmission (lung). Once Rinpoche approves, you then receive the reading transmission of the Ngöndro text. This transmission is necessary to connect the practitioner to the lineage masters. You may receive the reading transmission from Rinpoche or from designated lamas within our sangha.

As the Ngöndro is part of the Vajrayāna path it is necessary to practice it under your teacher’s guidance. We attempt here to provide you with all the materials, teaching, and practical instruction needed to begin and complete your Ngöndro practice.

We suggest that you take the time to review all these materials before beginning the practices (taking the most time with those you’ll be doing first) to get a reasonable overall understanding. But please remember that understanding is something that grows as we actually practice. Don’t worry too much if it seems complicated or confusing at the beginning. Many practitioners have done these practices in the past, and they all were confused at first… so take heart!

Why Practice The Ngöndro?

Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said in his introduction to The Great Gate (Rangjung Yeshe Publications),

When putting the Buddhist path into practice, all the paṇḍitas of India and the masters of Tibet agree that one must purify the obscurations and gather the accumulations. Due to the vastness of the Dharma teachings, one person is unable to practice all of them. For this reason the essence of all the sūtras and tantras were condensed into four things to think of, the four mind changings, and four things to practice, the preliminaries of four times one hundred thousand (ngöndro).

The Four Foundations are the gateway for the Traditional Vajrayāna Path. They enhance your experience of the view. You cultivate positive inner conditions for genuine practice of the three roots of guru, yidam, and ḍākinī.  Each practice aids in transformation, as we work on purifying our body, speech, and mind. Four Foundations practice gives you a stable basis for more advanced practices that lead to complete awakening.

To learn more about the Traditional Vajrayāna Path, click here.

As inspiration we should think of Sangyum Kunsang Dechen (Phakchok Rinpoche’s grandmother) who was the wisdom-consort of Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. She completed the Ngöndro 12 times. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche repeatedly praised her as a realized master. All great masters and practitioners incorporate Ngöndro every morning within their daily practice. These foundations should remain important throughout your entire path.

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About Instructor

Phakchok Rinpoche

Phakchok Rinpoche is a new generation Tibetan Buddhist Master. Born in 1981, Rinpoche was recognized as the seventh Phakchok Rinpoche and incarnation of a great teacher and meditation master. Receiving ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Rinpoche received a thorough education and training in Buddhist philosophy and meditation, studying with some of the most accomplished masters of modern times, his main teachers being his grandfather Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Rinpoche completed his education at the Dzongsar Institute of Advanced Buddhist Studies in Bir, India, where he received the Khenpo title. Rinpoche travels the world, teaching in Buddhist centers, universities, and monasteries from Asia to the US, from South America to Europe.

6 Courses

Not Enrolled

Course Includes

  • 34 Lessons