Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

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Nalanda
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Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Nalanda »

I just found it there's a Kalachakra Ngondro.

Is Kalachakra its own system in the same way as Dzogchen is? or is Kalachakra a practice like Vipassana? How does Kalachakra Ngondro differ from other ngondros?
IF YOU PRACTICE WITH A STRONG BELIEF IN WHAT
YOU ARE DOING, THEN THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT
YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH WITH YOUR PRACTICE.

CHAKUNG JIGME WANGDRAK RINPOCHE

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Könchok Thrinley
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Könchok Thrinley »

Nalanda wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 10:17 am I just found it there's a Kalachakra Ngondro.

Is Kalachakra its own system in the same way as Dzogchen is? or is Kalachakra a practice like Vipassana? How does Kalachakra Ngondro differ from other ngondros?
There is a lineage that completely focuses on Kalachakra and everything is pretty much connected to Kalachakra in that lineage. I think they are called Jonang. So it is like any other complete cycle of teachings, from ngöndro until enlightenment everything is there.
“Observing samaya involves to remain inseparable from the union of wisdom and compassion at all times, to sustain mindfulness, and to put into practice the guru’s instructions”. Garchen Rinpoche

For those who do virtuous actions,
goodness is what comes to pass.
For those who do non-virtuous actions,
that becomes suffering indeed.

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Nalanda
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Nalanda »

IF YOU PRACTICE WITH A STRONG BELIEF IN WHAT
YOU ARE DOING, THEN THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT
YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH WITH YOUR PRACTICE.

CHAKUNG JIGME WANGDRAK RINPOCHE

Terma
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Terma »

The common Ngondro text for Kalachakra according to the Jonang tradition is called "The Devine Ladder", written by Taranatha.

It is somewhat unique in that it contains the usual elements that most ngondro's have (4 thoughts, refuge, bodhicitta, Vajrasattva, mandala offering, and guru yoga), but also in this particular lineage, the creation stage practice of Kalachakra is actually part of the preliminaries. The outer preliminaries being the 4 thoughts, lineage prayers, the inner preliminaries which are the normal extraordinary preliminaries, and then Kalachakra generation stage and mantra recitation which is called the "special preliminaries."

They are all part of this ngondro text. The reason for this is that they are all preliminaries for the main practice of Kalachakra, the Six Vajra Yogas.

It is a wonderful text and it is fortunate that another living tradition continues, as the Jonangpa's are the only one's to hold the entire teachings of Kalachakra including the Six Vajra Yogas, which is really the main focus one works towards when practicing Kalachakra.
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conebeckham
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by conebeckham »

Bokar Rinpoche (and others) held a complete Kalacakra tradition, and I know he specifically requested Jonang transmissions for his monks at Mirik. Khenpo Lodru Donyo Rinpoche wrote a big commentary on Kalacakra, and there is a retreat center for this tradition at Mirik.

Also, the “ngondro” text including the abbreviated generation stage of the solitary hero was taught at Rinchen Tsadra Drak and continues to this day. Taranatha’s text is included in the volume of recitations used at Tsadra. And, just as an FYI, the Common Kamtsang Ngondro also contains a Vajrayogini Generation stage for carrying on one’s daily recitations and meditations.
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")
Terma
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Terma »

Interesting, Cone. Thank you. It is great to see that Kalachakra is being transmitted and more importantly practiced in its complete form in several other lineages as well.
Vasana
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Vasana »

Can anyone recommend a starting point for learning about the astrological dimensions of Kalachakra?
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Norwegian »

Vasana wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:47 pm Can anyone recommend a starting point for learning about the astrological dimensions of Kalachakra?
"Kalacakra and the Tibetan Calendar" by Edward Henning, published by AIBS.
Vasana
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Re: Kalachakra & Kalachakra Ngondro

Post by Vasana »

Thanks, this looks great.
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
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