I had never even heard of Gyalwang Drukpa until a card dropped through my letterbox. Dubious, I checked him out with a couple of Buddhist mates,who gave him the "all clear". Since he appeared to be a lineage holder and that dated to before Magna Carta,I reckoned he might just be worth £15 and a couple of hours of my time to see what he was made of,whether he could cut the spiritual mustard,deliver the divine goods.A very tall order indeed! I had no intention of taking notes,but after about 15 minutes, I realised that the speech was utterly brilliant genius and scribbled down all I could on scraps of paper.A very wise decision.All I have shown it to agree:brilliant,a masterpiece of wisdom that a child could understand.I have read many of the great speeches of history,but none tops His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa's.

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Pilgrimage to Bhutan with the Venerable Lama Ngawang Tenzin 5th to 26th August 2005

by Adrian Leigh

 Our very harmonious group of forty-six, mainly French, pilgrims garlanded with a delightful small contingent of children, commenced our journey in great comfort at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kathmandu, from where we took the flight to Bhutan which takes less than an hour and from which Himalayan snow-capped peaks are visible. Bhutan's state religion is Buddhist of the Drukpa Kargyud lineage, which has been established here since the time of the first Gyalwang Drukpa, Tsampa Gyare (1161-1211). The first Buddhist temples were reputedly built by the first Tibetan King, Songtsen Gampo (c. 618-649), followed by those of the Tibetan refugees who settled here during the persecutions of Langdharma and of a further wave of Drukpa Kargyudpas who settled here in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The twentieth century saw the establishment of a hereditary monarchy and in 1953 the third King created a national assembly. Until the early 1960s there was no currency, schools, hospitals, postal system nor tourists. Television and the internet have been here less than ten years. Bhutan has retained 70% of it's forest cover and 86% of it's population are subsistence farmers producing amongst other crops delicious red rice, apples and peaches. English is widely spoken and one is frequently surprised by how very well educated and cultivated many hoteliers, tour-guides etc are.

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With His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa In Drukpa Plouray, Brittany, July 2005

by Sandrine Blanc/Jigme Dekyid Pelmo

The topic of this retreat was Tcheu Sengey Tsewa. Before entering into the teachings of this profound practice, His Holiness reminded us of the importance of the preliminary practices. As Lama Ngawang said:'traditionally Masters transmitted the initiation and profound teachings of this practice only to students who had completed the preliminary practice - we are therefore very fortunate'. The message was then clear, that one should practice the preliminaries along with the other practices, as a base, a foundation. His Holiness initially spoke about the common ngondro, known as the ordinary preliminaries: 1) Precious human birth; 2) Impermanence; 3) Law of cause and effect; 4) The shortcomings of samsara.

His Holiness emphasised that one should study and contemplate these, as a preparation before practices such as Prajnaparamita and Tcheu Sengey Tsewa; in order to remain grounded we need to understand life, what it stands for, to be rooted, or we can't have successful practice... understanding life will help the practice of Refuge, Bodhicitta, Vajrayana etc.etc.

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Residential Retreat with His Holiness 12th Gyalwang Drukpa Gaunts House, Dorset 30th May to 2nd June 2005

by Margaret de Bethlen/Jigme Tenzin Chodron

Of course any retreat with His Holiness is a great blessing, but somehow this retreat in the beauty of Gaunts House was exceptional for me. His Holiness taught on three texts nearly simultaneously- Manjushri Tantra Chitta, Prajnaparamita and the preliminaries.

Rather than limiting himself to explaining each separately, His Holiness blended the three with an emphasis on the insight of transcendent wisdom.  As His Holiness pointed out, this is rarely done. I felt that we were really being given the main key to the jigsaw puzzle by this in-depth layering of meaning. It was as though His Holiness was hammering the three texts together with the 'nail' of ultimate truth.

He gave us quite direct and uncompromisingly clear explanations and advice on integrating our lives with ultimate truth: 'Have pleasure with satisfaction, not dissatisfaction' ' we should be aware of where satisfaction and dissatisfaction come from' . . 'if you don't find the cause of dissatisfaction you will run until you are exhausted and it is too late, led by that feeling of dissatisfaction'

He strongly re-emphasised the key importance of bodhicitta in achieving transcendent wisdom : 'Knowledge can only radiate with the presence of loving kindness'. This transformed and deepened our understanding, especially of the daily practices we feel so familiar with. At the end we promised ourselves, as His Holiness advised, to diligently clear out the samsaric sludge of our 'nonsense boxes', giving way at long last to the beautiful lotus of transcendent wisdom. Hopefully His Holiness will soon catch a glimpse of this happening, feel encouraged and continue treating us to such essential teachings!