What is a daily practice for beginners?

[rodolfosancheznusa36]

I want to give this path a try. What is a daily practice like? Due to my circumstances and living in a different country, temples or gurus are non-existent from where I live. But I hope that wouldn't prevent me from practicing this path.

Is the ngondro necessary?

What are your suggestions. Thanks.

[Sādhaka]

Is the ngondro necessary?

Yes it is.

Yet it can be also done according to time and/or signs; and not necessarily by so many hundreds of thousands of repetitions….

[jamesrigzin]

Hey, man.

Welcome

Don’t worry that you live in a country with no sanghas. Seek out and trial different dharma communities online (this forum is not a sangha in itself (per se) but rather a conglomeration of many different students from many different communities), travel for teachings and retreats if it is practical for you, and study and practice the best you can until you meet a qualified lama who will guide you from that point forward. If you aspire, it will happen.

There is no rush here, this path is for life (and lives into the future).

I recommend baby steps.

Daily practice looks different for everyone.

My teacher asks for 300 hours of sitting meditation (shamatha) before beginning the ngondro; a foundation of meditation practice is essential for all Buddhists, Hinayana and Vajrayana alike.

For me, personally, the ngondro is definately necessary and I will practice it for the rest of my life. As has been mentioned here before, some of the lamas of recent generations, who are widely considered to be incredible masters who completed many years of solitary retreat practice and had thousands of students, were practicing the ngondro until their dying days!

On the other hand, I have a vajra sibling that chose not to continue the ngondro, and informed her teacher as much. He approved, but this was ONLY after extensive investigation and discussion with her guru; it wasn’t a uni-lateral move on her part.

In general, we don’t pick and choose our primary practices based on what we like and dislike.

As many people on this forum will agree (and others will not), and I think as stated by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche: if you think the ngondro isn’t necessary for you, then it is most likely definately necessary for you.

Wishing you clarity and success on your path.

[Johnny Dangerous]

I want to give this path a try. What is a daily practice like? Due to my circumstances and living in a different country, temples or gurus are non-existent from where I live. But I hope that wouldn't prevent me from practicing this path.

Is the ngondro necessary?

What are your suggestions. Thanks.

Different schools and teachers treat uncommon Ngondro differently. All Tibetan schools teach the common Ngondro - the Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind, those are pretty much universal and can be practiced by anyone.

[PadmaVonSamba]

Is the ngondro necessary?

All the Tibetan Buddhist traditions have ngondro.
This doesn’t mean that everyone who follows a tradition or who has a lama does ngondro, even though probably 95% do. Your lama will advise you.
Ngondro roughly means ‘before’ or ‘in preparation of’ and it really refers to preparing your mind for practice. So, yes, some kind of preparation is always needed.

You can think of it like clearing a workspace before beginning a project, or setting a table before serving dinner. and the repetition of 100,000 prostrations, mandalas, mantras, etc has become the traditional ‘standard’ but there are some people for whom doing those things doesn’t clear away bullshit, but only adds more to their ego-trip.

All I’m saying is that, while yes, generally, the four foundation practices of 100,000 is standard preliminary, it’s not accurate to make the sweeping statement that every single student will be told by their teacher to do them. Probably yes, but not absolutely yes.

[Ayu]

I want to give this path a try. What is a daily practice like? Due to my circumstances and living in a different country, temples or gurus are non-existent from where I live. But I hope that wouldn't prevent me from practicing this path.

Is the ngondro necessary?

What are your suggestions. Thanks.

If one is a complete beginner and only wants to TRY Tibetan practice and only wants to start somewhere at all - then it is even too early for Ngondro, I believe.

You can simply start with a breathing meditation and focus on a wholesome object (within your mind). That object has to be confidential and positive for yourself. E. g., visualising a Buddha is recommended, but only as long as you have a positive stance on Buddha.

Ngondro is a preparation practice, if you want to practice Vajrayana later. But not all Tibetan practice isVajrayana. It's a very good foundation to start with meditating on the contents of the Lam Rim.
The focusing practice that I was recommending above is explained thoroughly in the Lamrim.

But a Vajrasattva practice, which is a diety practice in Vajrayana for purification and which is part of Ngondro - is an excellent practice for beginners as well.
And then you need somebody to explain it thoroughly to you and in best case someone who meditates it together with you in the beginning.

[Kai lord]

Is the ngondro necessary?

Good to have but not necessary

What are your suggestions. Thanks.

Read up and contemplate on the four noble truth, eight worldly concern, renounciation, etc

[conebeckham]

Good to start with the Four Thoughts, and consider methods to take refuge, develop bodhicitta, etc. These are all called "Ngondro" --the accumulations, mantras, mandala offerings, guru yoga recitations, etc. are really wonderful practice but maybe better to not rush into them.

Frankly, Ngondro is the MOST IMPORTANT practice--until one has had a glimpse of "Mind's Nature," Rigpa, Ordinary Mind, etc. etc. but it's also helpful and useful to contemplate the practices of ngondro even after that glimpse.

NgonDro can be translated as "before going," which you can interpret, as many do, as the "preliminary practices." those that come before all that glamorous deity yoga, the practices of tsalung etc., and the profound completion stage methods of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, etc.

It's also the case that the topics and practices covered in the ngondro liturgies and methods GO BEFORE everything else, in terms of importance.

If you think about it--the reasons for practicing are to transcend (or abolish?) ignorance and faults in ourselves, and to increase one's Buddha Qualities, and to help others do the same. All the others methods need to be "driven" by these motivations, from the heart and mind. Otherwise, all the "advanced practices" are just things to fill in one's time.

However, I am not saying that one should jump into a "Ngondro Liturgy" and make the 400,000 accumulations one's principal daily practice as a beginner. Instead, I recommend Chenrezig sadhana. Take refuge, generate bodhicitta, generate oneself and others as the deities and mandala, and reflect on suffering, ignorance, compassion, etc. while reciting the Mani. Take some time at the end of the recitation, or when you are tired of reciting, to rest the mind, do the dissolution visualization, or some Samatha, or some "Taking and Sending," and don't forget to dedicate whatever merit one has created to others. That, IMO, is the perfect introduction to Tibetan Buddhist practice. My teachers recommend it, even if one does not have the empowerment. If one connects with this method, one can seek out the empowerment and explanation and this will benefit one's practice. I also recommend the book by Bokar Rinpoche called "Chenrezig: Lord of Love."

[Hazel]

Gelugpas are super into studying sutra teachings before tantra which is likely more compatible with your circumstances. It requires qualified teachers, but there's no debate about teachings being remote and a lot of it you can read on your own as long as you still receive teachings to keep your imagination in check.

Edit:

See Ayu's post above.

[PeterC]

I want to give this path a try. What is a daily practice like? Due to my circumstances and living in a different country, temples or gurus are non-existent from where I live. But I hope that wouldn't prevent me from practicing this path.

Is the ngondro necessary?

What are your suggestions. Thanks.

These days it is not necessary to be physically close to a teacher. But, there is no vajrayana without one. Your best bet is to look at the various people teaching online - which includes a lot of excellent teachers - and pick one you like. Until you’ve found one you like, it helps to get into the habit of sitting daily, not necessarily for very long. It’s also helpful to study something like the seven point Lojong or the 37 practices - something accessible and not requiring empowerment.