Saying farewell to Namgyalgar South

As you may or may not know, our Namgyalgar South property on the southern slopes of Mt Gulaga near Central Tilba, has been sold. Contracts were signed on Nov 3. Another Dharma group of the Sakya lineage will become custodians of its forests, paddocks, creeks and slopes, its wombats, wallabies and waterfalls, for another blink of an eyelid in this ancient Gulaga landscape.

Mt Gulaga is considered to be the place of ancestoral origin for the Yuin people who have lived in this area for thousands of years. Gulaga itself symbolises the mother and provides a basis for Aboriginal spiritual identity, the mountain as well as the surrounding area holds particular significance for Aboriginal women.


A small group of us gathered at NS on the October long weekend to help pack up and say our goodbyes. Here are some pics and text from that alternately sad and joyous time.

 The gar was looking glorious. Everything that could possibly be in bloom was blossoming. The juniper trees planted along the drive way were just reaching a good height, the road is in perfect condition, there's a new disabled parking spot next to the gonpa with many other details having been attended to. The land management committee and local members had been hard at work for months preparing the property for sale. The saddle is green after all the good winter rains, the flame tree is flaming and wombat families seem to love hanging out at Jean's memorial seat, which looks across the saddle and up to Rinpoche's freshly painted house, built so many years ago by local and overseas members.

Before the packing up began it was time to revisit the mountain top where over 25 years ago the plan to make the gar for the Asia Pacific region was hatched. The owner at the that time, Mal Dibden, took Jean Macintoch and others up the mountain on his tractor. Georgia, our geko, had recently slashed the path so we headed up on foot.

At the top boundary of the land are great boulders wrapped in the roots of ancient figtrees just like at Angkor Wat. We sang the Song of the Vajra at the spot in the rocks where Rinpoche buried sacred objects back in the 90s and sang again on the steps of the rushen hut built by Rabgyi, Arnaud and others in recent years. Then Georgia led us to the eagles nest, a viewing point high up on a fig boulder with a sheer drop to the valley below. It felt like we were perched in a tree half the size the mountain. We knew we had limited time there and it was hard not to have Joni Mitchell's line, 'you don't know what you've got til its gone," ringing  in our heads as we descended the mountain for lunch. Actually none of us wanted to leave. The mountainside was filled with a heady perfume as every flowering tree, bush and tiny wild orchid sighed their dakini's breath into the clear Gulaga air.

After lunch we joined the hard core karma yoga workers, Lydia and Jilli who were sorting and packing our reference and borrowing library for transportation to Namgylagar North. And the tireless Jenny O'Donnell (who has been a mainstay in handling all the fine detail of the handover), gave us wrapping and packing tasks.

 Peter Phipps was on ladder duties.

And it was hard not to be distracted by old photos we came across.

 Thangkas needed to be carefully rolled and bubble wrapped.

Rinpoche's room had to be packed up

And a great album of photos of Namgyalgar history brought back memories of all the retreats over the years: all the hard work, hard fun and bad fashion! Meanwhile on the verandah, Asher and Miro doing research into Places of Mystery, decided Namg South could definitely be one of them.

 At 4pm we met in the gonpa for a talking circle which we hoped would help give expression to the feelings we had about saying goodbye to this extraordinary place which has been a centre of Dzogchen teachings and community since 1994 (when we had our first off-land retreat with Rinpoche in the area).

Passing the vajra around from person to person, we spoke whatever came to mind: a feeling, a story, a memory, anecdote, a wail, a rant, a rave, a reflection...

It was a helpful process. We kept going until we couldn't go around any more. At the end, before our last gana puja that evening, we were invited to jot any thoughts or feelings on pieces of paper which we collected for next day's sang.

At 8 am we gathered on the saddle for our sangqod. Peter Phipps led us in the sang offering. Catherine Simmonds added our papers to the branches of juniper and lavender along with some mantras from old practice books, as the wind took their smoke away across the valley.

Then it was back to work dismantling the poles near the gonpa

Collecting the garden buddhas

Soon it was time for another delish collective gar meal in the campers kitchen, perhaps not the last supper but definitely the last lunch!

  Apres lunch,  some more sorting, shifting, packing..

There was even time for a beach outing before meeting up for fish 'n chips in Berme

While the walls of the gonpa were now bare, the the shrine was the last thing to be packed up and shipped to Namg North.

I spent my last night in the dark/light retreat cabin, going to sleep with the stars and and waking up to a spectacular sunrise. After doing some practice in the dark retreat cave, I made my dedication to the next custodians wishing them all the best for their time on this glorious practice mountainside.

As I left, I arranged the cushions thus, reminding myself,  as Rinpoche always does, that wherever in the world I manage to sit in contemplation, is the most perfect and precious place to be. For the past twenty or so years Namgyalgar South has been one of those places.

Huge thanks must go to all those who over so many years have contributed their generous time, energy,  practice, donations, offerings, spirit, tears, sweat and goodwill to the life of Namgyalgar in the Tilba region of NSW.A small local team was left to finish off the packing in readiness for the removalists.

 See pics of the moving day here.
Pics of caravan moving day here.

As we turn our energies northward to our gar in Queensland we trust that the Dzogchen teachings will continue to thrive not only in the Glasshouse Mts, but in all the regions of the Australia Pacific and the global community.

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu has been in residence at Namgylagar North for all of November and gave  a retreat Nov 3- 8. Next stop Argentina and in 2016 he will not be travelling but will be in residence at our global gar, Dzamling Gar. See his schedule here.

Story and pics by Jan Cornall with some pics by Eleanor Loudon
(There at the beginning and there at the end).

Explore your Creative Spirit this winter

When weather turns cold and winter fires start to crackle, it is a perfect time for going within to ignite your creativity. This chilly season three artists bring their creative skills together at Namgyalgar South Retreat Centre, nestled on the southern slopes of Mt Gulaga near Central Tilba, in Southern NSW. 

Painter Glenda Morgan, writer Jan Cornall and movement artist Suze Smith will add meditation to the creative mix when they lead their weekend retreats for residential or daily participants. 

In between delicious food, warm fires, envigorating walks, meditation and movement sessions, there will be a chance to play with colour and line, movement and dance, poetry and sensual story telling.  

Evenings will be filled with stimulating discussions, performance soirees, video talks, laughter and hot-water-bottle dreaming. It’s a mid winter opportunity to spend a long weekend with like-minded spirits in a winter green mountain hermitage and to keep the creative conversation going long after you return home. 

Three weekends are planned: in May, Sensing Creativity, an art retreat using meditation to take you into creative drawing, Creative Spirit, in June, a long weekend exploring writing, painting and meditation and Stillness and Movement, in July, a weekend exploring the mind body connection through somatic movement and dance improv. 

 Your workshop leaders, all members of the Dzogchen Community (following the teachings of Tibetan Master Chogyal Namkai Norbu),  have been practicing meditation for many years and are well established in their own artistic practice.

Glenda Morgan has been painting and exhibiting for 25 years and has taught drawing, printmaking and design at Universities and art schools in Sydney. She is a certified instructor in Qigong and Tai Chi.

Jan Cornall is a published writer who has written plays, screenplays, musicals, a novel, short stories, travel articles and songs.  She has an MA in Cultural and Creative Practice, has taught writing at universities in Australia and Indonesia and leads international writing and creativity retreats. 

Suze Smith is a contemporary theatre maker and somatic movement teacher. She is a dance artist, writer, director and lighting designer. Her theatre making practice is informed by her ongoing study of post modern dance and improvisation, embodied anatomy and Body-Mind Centering®.  

 

All bookings and enquiries: glenda.energyarts@gmail.com

Dancing Under The Stars - the big day arrives!

It had been in planning for over a year, under the direction and guidance of theatre maker Suze Smith. Sessions in Melb, Sydney and Tilba, expertly facilitated by Suze, drew improvised movements from the dancers on the theme of a day in the life of a Timeless Land: dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk, night; a piece inspired by the Australian landscape in homage to its traditional land owners. Suze chose an excellent sound track combining the music of Gurrumul, Yothu Yindi Band, with Tiddas, Stephen Page, the John Butler Trio and Heel and Toe Polka from the Bushwackers. The title of our piece, Timeless Land was borrowed from Yothu Yindi's brilliant track which provided the finale for the dance.

The dance competition was to take place at Tsegyalgar in Conway, Massachussetts, over the weekend of July 11,12,13, at the 30 Year Celebration Festival and Inauguration of the Universal Dance Mandala at Khandroling. This would include performances by Tibetan singer Tsering Lodoe and other dance groups: a Tibetan Dance Troupe from NYC, a group of Gurdjieff dancers, Namgyal Gar and Tsegyal Gar Dance troupes and the Khaita dancers. It would culminate in the Dancing Under the Stars competition on the 13th, a fun and friendly way for all the DC gars to meet across continents.

Tsegyalgar Gakyil had arranged wonderful accommodation for us at Beaver Lodge, out in the woods near Khandroling (though we didn't get to sleep in the tipi).

 Our host, Marie Stella, was most welcoming and gave lots of useful information about the area.

She even organised for a black bear to stroll into the garden one day looking for blueberries!

Not far from Beaver Lodge was Rinpoche's house where Tibetan Dancing was taking place at 5-8pm on the days it was not held at the Gonpa in Conway or the Mohawk School.

The Mohawk School (whose students were on vacation), also close by, was the location for all our activities and the retreat that was to follow the celebrations. The region is close to the famous Mohawk Trail which had its beginnings as a Native American trade route and is also known as the Trail of Tears following the forced removal of the Mohawk people from their land in the 1830s.

We had just two days to rehearse and teach the moves to Thuy Ngyuyen who had been away travelling and newcomer Nicholas Martin, who took Matt Jenning's place when sadly he was unable to travel, and be ready for our first public performance on the Friday evening!

With our rehearsing all done on the Friday afternoon at 3 pm we made the journey up the steep dirt track, past small lakes and through the wooded forest to Khandroling, for the inauguration of the Vajra Hall and the Universal Dance Mandala. Five years in the making, this impressive building stands next to the spot where Rinpoche received the Vajra Dance terma.

 The ceremony, presided over by Rinpoche with invited local dignitaries and general public in attendance, included a Song of the Vajra dance demonstration.

Then it was back to the Mohawk School to prepare for our first performance, which was a concert of music and dance open to all. Our piece got a good response and we were able to see Tsegyal Gar's wonderfully colourful routine and know we were in for some stiff competition on Sunday.

Saturday morning we were back at Khandroling for a moving consecration of the Universal Mandala led by Rinpoche with sang, serkem and gana puja, with Song of Vajra danced in costume and Tibetan dancing by the Derge dancers with everyone joining in at the end.

The afternoon gave us a little time off for exploring the picture postcard surrounds of Shelburne Falls, our nearest town (a bigger version of Tilba Tilba), where an excellent wholefood grocery and cafe (with good free wifi) was in use by DC members from all over the world.

Sunday loomed. We did our warm ups and last minute run throughs and posed for pics in the gym and the green room.

By 2 pm the auditorium at the Mohawk School was packed, with Rinpoche in prime position in the front row. To his left was the line of judges, chosen from other non competing gars. Both teams came out on stage.

Suze stepped forward to choose a card. Number 1, which meant we would compete first.

So we walked back into the wings and that was it, we were on!

By all reports it went well. You can have a look at a Youtube video here.

At different points the audience clapped along and burst into spontaneous applause. We received two standing ovations and many came up to us afterwards to say how moved they were by our dance. All agreed that the undeniable star of our troupe was our youngest member, Alicia Horner.

But the show wasn't over yet. The seventeen strong Tsegyalgar team were hitting the stage with their fabulous costumes and razzle dazzle routines. We sneaked in up the back and cheered and clapped along with the crowd.

With their uplifting performance over, there was a little time for the judges to confer and we were called back to the stage. Cristiana from Rome praised both teams and explained what a difficult choice it was. Then one by one the judges gave their scores for Namgyalgar — 8, 9, 8, 8, 9...mmm not bad, not bad at all! Then Tsegyalgar — they too scored well but with an extra 9 and a perfect 10 took the winning place by just a couple of points. A time for handshaking, hugging, congratulating and feeling relieved that it was all over!

And over it was as the event was soon eclipsed by a bigger competition, the final of the world cup, broadcast on a big screen on the stage we had just left. After the thrilling German victory, the entertainment continued.

The Derge Dancers were back again, the Gurdjieff Dancers and Tsering Lodoe. It had been a long day, but a most rewarding one. There was a sense of achievement as having pulled off something that a year before had seemed impossible. Forget the dance — simply finding a way to get there was a challenge in itself.

All thanks to Rinpoche for pushing us beyond our perceived capabilities and providing yet another way to practice together.

Thanks must also go to those who generously supported us: Tsegyalgar Gakyil, Namgyalgar Gakyil, contributors to our Melb fundraiser, as well as individual contributors.

Special thanks to Suze Smith for direction, Catherine Horner for admin, Graeme Horner for photography and video, Alicia Horner for her poise and calisthenic expertise, and all those who had input along the way including: Thuy Nguyen,  Nicholas Martin, Jan Cornall, Yvonne Cullen, Joanna Tyshing, Glenda Morgan, Matt Jennings, Peter Phipps, Lynne Geary, Pamela Oldemeadow, Barbara Robertson, Gary Delora, Grace Davis and all our oz and international supporters. Also thanks to Scott Townell for the great performance pics.

Now if you think this dancing business might just go away, think again! Get ready to sing and dance with Rinpoche every evening from 5- 8pm at the upcoming retreat at Namgyalgar North in October. Khaita - joyful singing and dancing in coming to OZ. Download the songs and vids here and get a headstart. Khaita!

Register now for the October retreat with Chogyal Namkkai Norbu, Oct 20-26.
Glasshouse Mts, QLD, on hour north of Brisbane.