The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

thewhiterussia
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:19 pm
Location: UK

The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by thewhiterussia »

Dear people,

According to the instructions for the practices of the base level of santi maha sangha one day of practice corresponds to four thuns. Does anybody know how long is one thun supposed to be?

Many thanks
Sherlock
Posts: 1202
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:14 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Sherlock »

Three hours
thewhiterussia
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:19 pm
Location: UK

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by thewhiterussia »

Thank you for your reply. I just wondering where did you get this information for example, book? :reading:
Cheers
User avatar
treehuggingoctopus
Posts: 2506
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:26 pm
Location: EU

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by treehuggingoctopus »

2 hours. Or so I've been told by several SMS instructors.
Générosité de l’invisible.
Notre gratitude est infinie.
Le critère est l’hospitalité.

Edmond Jabès
thewhiterussia
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:19 pm
Location: UK

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by thewhiterussia »

Thank you very much for your answer. :smile:
oberon_rex
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:52 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by oberon_rex »

Rinpoche says "about three hours".
User avatar
treehuggingoctopus
Posts: 2506
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:26 pm
Location: EU

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by treehuggingoctopus »

You're quite sure ChNN has in mind the SMS thun in particular?

You know, it is very interesting that opinions on the issue differ. And it is equally interesting, and perhaps telling, that the Precious Vase doesn't specify the length of a thun.

You know what? I'm going to ask the boss about it.
Générosité de l’invisible.
Notre gratitude est infinie.
Le critère est l’hospitalité.

Edmond Jabès
User avatar
flavio81
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:25 am
Location: Lima, Peru

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by flavio81 »

thewhiterussia wrote:Dear people,

According to the instructions for the practices of the base level of santi maha sangha one day of practice corresponds to four thuns. Does anybody know how long is one thun supposed to be?

Many thanks
I guess you refer to what we DC practitioners call the "long thun"?

Because as far as i know "thun" just means "a practice session". For example doing the Ganapuja (shorthand for ganacakra puja, btw) would be a thun as well. I've been in looooong ganapujas, 3 hours or more.

To make it last a lot, just stretch the naggon to the limit!! And keep sounding that bell and that drum!! :cheers:

I would guess there's nothing wrong with such lengths of time, as long as you can physically do it and as long as you're not stopping to attend important matters.
User avatar
conebeckham
Posts: 5694
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:49 pm
Location: Bay Area, CA, USA

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by conebeckham »

I know you're talking about DC, but in general, a Thun is 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Most Nyingma and Kagyu (and maybe other) strict retreats, like three year retreats, etc., are based on 4 of these "Thuns" a day--pre-dawn (approx 3:30 or 4 am--6:30 or 7), mid morning (7 am-9:30 am or 10), afternoon (1 pm to 3:30 or 4 pm), and early evening, (5:30 or 6 pm-9 pm). Times are rough, but you get the idea.

Most retreats will have group sessions in morning and late afternoon as well, which are somewhat shorter--after first morning solitary Thun, and before the Last (evening) solitary Thun.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
thewhiterussia
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:19 pm
Location: UK

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by thewhiterussia »

Thank you very much for your reply I've got the idea now :smile:
User avatar
Roland
Posts: 195
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 7:33 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Roland »

I asked an SMS instructor how long a thun is in the SMS base practices and was told it is 2 hours. So 4 thuns would be 8 hours of practice which would equal one day.
"Seek truth in meditation, not moldy books. Look in the sky to find the moon, not in the pond."
- Persian proverb
User avatar
Dronma
Posts: 718
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Dronma »

There are detailed instructions about the required practice sessions of the Base Level of SMS in the relevant book, pages 327-330.
Surely, for completing all those sessions, and accumulations of mantras etc, a lot of time is necessary for months or years.
It depends on the possibilities and conditions of each individual.
The sound of s i l e n c e.....
User avatar
treehuggingoctopus
Posts: 2506
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:26 pm
Location: EU

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by treehuggingoctopus »

Dronma wrote:There are detailed instructions about the required practice sessions of the Base Level of SMS in the relevant book, pages 327-330.
Surely, for completing all those sessions, and accumulations of mantras etc, a lot of time is necessary for months or years.
It depends on the possibilities and conditions of each individual.
Dronma, which edition of the Precious Vase have you got?

Mine (SSI, 2008) is only 323 pages long...
Générosité de l’invisible.
Notre gratitude est infinie.
Le critère est l’hospitalité.

Edmond Jabès
User avatar
Dronma
Posts: 718
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Dronma »

treehuggingoctopus wrote: Dronma, which edition of the Precious Vase have you got?

Mine (SSI, 2008) is only 323 pages long...
It writes: Copyright 1999 SSI etc, and the whole book has 330 numbered pages.
The instructions, which I already mentioned, are in the last chapter with the title: "Appendix: The practices of the Base of Santi Maha Sangha", and at the last page it is signed by Rinpoche.
The sound of s i l e n c e.....
User avatar
treehuggingoctopus
Posts: 2506
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:26 pm
Location: EU

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by treehuggingoctopus »

I've got the Appendix. But there's no mention of the required length of a thun session there.
Générosité de l’invisible.
Notre gratitude est infinie.
Le critère est l’hospitalité.

Edmond Jabès
User avatar
Dronma
Posts: 718
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Dronma »

treehuggingoctopus wrote:I've got the Appendix. But there's no mention of the required length of a thun session there.
Yes, true, it does not mention the length of a thun session.
But Rinpoche recommends 4 thuns per day, and if we start accumulating the days which are required for: Lojong, the 4 immeasurables, the 3 secondary practices for the Samten, the 2 absences of self-nature, Rushens, Semdzins, plus the accumulation of mantras for the 2 Yidams (700.000, or 500.000, or at least 300.000 mantras for each), then we can understand that it is really required a lot of time.
Whether someone will dedicate 2, 3 or more hours in each thun, it is up to him/her.
It depends on the possibilities and conditions of each individual.
The sound of s i l e n c e.....
thewhiterussia
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:19 pm
Location: UK

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by thewhiterussia »

I agree it will take a long time but I don't think there are any shorter options in other Tibetan Buddhist traditional schools..

"Nobody said it was easy...."
User avatar
Reibeam
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:21 am
Location: On the Western continent In the mountains close to space

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Reibeam »

Would someone please tell me what the requirements are to purchase and study the SMS BASE LEVEL TEXT: The Precious Vase? I am a Current Member of the DC and have received direct introduction, but is there a specific transmission to begin SMS study? Obviously I would need a transmission for any practices, but where do I start with this?

Thanks
Pero
Posts: 2465
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:54 pm

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Pero »

Reibeam wrote:Would someone please tell me what the requirements are to purchase and study the SMS BASE LEVEL TEXT: The Precious Vase? I am a Current Member of the DC and have received direct introduction, but is there a specific transmission to begin SMS study? Obviously I would need a transmission for any practices, but where do I start with this?
You can get the book, no specific transmission for it necessary. And if you've attended at least one full retreat there's probably no practices in the book that you'd need extra transmission for in order to do them.
Although many individuals in this age appear to be merely indulging their worldly desires, one does not have the capacity to judge them, so it is best to train in pure vision.
- Shabkar
User avatar
Reibeam
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:21 am
Location: On the Western continent In the mountains close to space

Re: The practices of the base of santi maha sangha

Post by Reibeam »

Pero wrote:
Reibeam wrote:Would someone please tell me what the requirements are to purchase and study the SMS BASE LEVEL TEXT: The Precious Vase? I am a Current Member of the DC and have received direct introduction, but is there a specific transmission to begin SMS study? Obviously I would need a transmission for any practices, but where do I start with this?
You can get the book, no specific transmission for it necessary. And if you've attended at least one full retreat there's probably no practices in the book that you'd need extra transmission for in order to do them.
Thanks, Pero! I really appreciate you answering so many of my posts recently, it has been really helpful!
Post Reply

Return to “Dzogchen”