Watch Tai Situpa Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche Teach Online Organized by Palpung Ireland

Tai Situpa Rinpoche, www.retreatsandvenues.com.

On July 22, 2020, I received a kind email from Palpung letting me know that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 would be a "stay at home" year and that His Eminence the 7th Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche's December 2020 transmissions had to be cancelled.

The email reminded readers that recordings of teachings given by Guru Vajradhara the 12th Tai Situpa Rinpoche and Minyur Rinpoche are freely available on www.palpung.org, and that many are translated into other languages such as Chinese, French, German, Russian, and Spanish.

Now there will be new online teachings as well.

Teachings from Tai Situpa Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche

On August 2, I received an email from Palpung sharing the good news that Tai Situpa Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche will be giving online teachings organized by Palpung Ireland.

The Events

The email read, "In response to numerous requests from Palpung Centers worldwide as well as requests from many other Dharma communities, Guru Vajradhara the 12th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa has agreed to transmit the precious Dharma once a month for the next 6 months.

"Also, in response to numerous requests, His Eminence Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche has agreed to teach on Saturday, August 15th.

"Palpung Ireland has been appointed to organize those events.

"These transmissions are open to everyone Buddhists or non-Buddhists, to beginners as well as to long term students."

Schedule

August 9, 2020

5:00 PM IST - 6:30 PM IST

(August 9 from 4:30 AM PT - 6:00 AM PT)

Tai Situpa Rinpoche - "A Meaningful Life"

August 15, 2020

3:00 PM NPT - 5:00 PM NPT

(August 15 from 2:15 AM PT - 4:15 AM PT)

Mingyur Rinpoche - "The Art of Letting Go: How to Cultivate Healthy Relationships"

September 6, 2020

5:00 PM IST - 6:30 PM IST

(September 6 from 4:30 AM PT - 6:00 AM PT)

Tai Situpa Rinpoche - "What Is Freedom"

October 11, 2020

5:00 PM IST - 6:30 PM IST

(October 11 from 4:30 AM PT - 6:00 AM PT)

Tai Situpa Rinpoche - "Inner Peace"

Mingyur Rinpoche, www.wortfm.org.

Watch the Livestreams

English speakers should watch the livetreams on Palpung Ireland Buddhist Centre YouTube channel.

Simultaneous translations in Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish, Slovenian, German, and Portuguese will be available on Zoom.

Viewers who require access to translation in one of those languages should notify the organizers in advance.

Send an email requesting access to your preferred translation to palpungirelandinfo (at) gmail dot com. Your email Title should be written in English and should say "Chinese Translation Request" if you need the Chinese translation, etc.

If you need translation for the August 9 teaching then email the organizers by August 8. 

If you need translation for the September 6 teaching then email the organizers between August 10 and August 14.

If you need translation for the September 6 teaching then email the organizers between August 29 and September 5.

If you need translation for the October 11 teaching then email the organizers between October 3 and October 10.

Palpung Sherabling Monastery, www.palpung.org.

A Brief History of Palpung Monastery, Tai Situpa Rinpoche, and Mingyur Rinpoche

Palpung Ireland is part of the Palpung Confederation and is connected with Palpung Monastery, a Karma Kagyu monastery in Kham, Tibet. Palpung Monastery has 180+ branch monasteries in Chinese and Tibetan districts whose students travel to Palpung Monastery to study ritual, art, retreat practices, and scholarly texts.

Palpung Monastery was founded by the 8th Tai Situpa Rinpoche in 1727 and is the monastic seat in Tibet of the reincarnations of the Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpas. Mingyur Rinpoche explains in this six minute video that the monastic seat of the Minyur Rinpoche reincarnations, Tergar Monastery in Tibet, is an independent branch of Palpung Monastery. In that video he also explains the historical connection between the Mingyur Rinpoche reincarnations and the Tai Situpa Rinpoche reincarnations.

The website of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa's seat in North America, www.kagyu.org, says, "The first Tai Situ Rinpoche, Chökyi Gyaltsen, was a disciple of the Fifth Karmapa. Though he spent a great deal of his life meditating in caves, his renown spread so widely that the Ming emperor granted him the title of Tai Situ" in 1407.

In that six minute video Minyur Rinpoche says that the 8th Tai Situpa Rinpoche gave three year retreat instructions near the end of his life, and that the 9th Tai Situpa Rinpoche was responsible for establishing the system of the three year retreat. Mingyur Rinpoche joined his first three-year retreat at the age of thirteen under the guidance of the 12th Tai Situpa Rinpoche at Palpung Sherabling Monastery.

The 12th Tai Situpa Rinpoche, born in 1954, was found and recognized by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. He was enthroned at Palpung Monastery at the age of eighteen months. When he was six, he went into exile in India where he stayed and studied with His Holiness the 16th Karmapa who had gone into exile and was at his monastic seat in exile, Rumtek Monastery, in Sikkim. The 6th Mingyur Rinpoche also left Tibet and went into exile in India.

The 12th Tai Situpa Rinpoche is the main teacher to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa in Mahamudra and a teacher of the 7th Mingyur Rinpoche.

At the age of 22 the 12th Tai Situpa Rinpoche established his monastic seat in exile near Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India. I first visited Palpung Sherabling monastic seat when I attended a retreat led there by the 7th Mingyur Rinpoche in 2016, and got to go back last year to attend part of a retreat led by Tai Situpa Rinpoche. I was there alone and enjoyed sitting with members of Palpung Ireland for meals in the dining hall. It is fun that Palpung Ireland are the organizers for the upcoming teachings.

This summary was organized by piecing together information from various trusted websites. I am not that familiar with this history and apologize for any errors.