Retreat on the Fifty Stanzas of Guru Devotion(Gurupancashikha)
by Ashvaghosa & 1000 Arm Avalokiteshvara
Date: Sept. 19-21, 2008
Location: Edwards, CO
Fifty Stanzas of Guru Devotion Description: “If your link with your master is kept really pure, then everything in your life will go well.” Khamdro Tsering Chodron
Devoting oneself to a spiritual master is a practice that many western minds have some issues with. Yet guru devotion is fundamental to practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In order to practice in the tantric system the disciple has to be properly devoted to a guru. Ashvaghosa’s verses are the most comprehensive summary on how to do this.
1000 Arm Avalokiteshvara Description:
Avalokiteshwara (Chenrezig), the Bodhisattva of compassion is by far the most popular figure in the Buddhist tradition after the Buddha. This retreat is based on the mantrayana teachings and practices associated with this Bodhisattva figure in its full divine glory with One Thousand Arms and Eleven heads representing the union of wisdom and compassion. Rich in tradition, with the acumen of 2600 years of practice, Buddhist images nurture deep aspects of our beings, bypassing our defenses, opening us effortlessly to the true nature of reality.
The current Dalai Lama is regarded by many as an emanation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.