Report June 2025: Palchen Düpa and Yumka Retreat Guides
This month we published two major new texts, one for Palchen Düpa and one for Yumka Dechen Gyalmo. With the guide for Yumka we have completed the third and final part of the retreat guide for the entire Longchen Nyingtik, written by the Fourth Dodrupchen Rinpoche.
The Way of the Vidyādharas of the Past, Instructions on the Stages of the Practice of Approach and Accomplishment of the Guru, Yidam Deity and Ḍākinī of the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse, Chapter 3: Instructions on the Approach and Accomplishment of the Ḍākinī Queen of Great Bliss (Dechen Gyalmo), from the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse, by the Fourth Dodrupchen, Tubten Trinlé Pal Zangpo, is the third and final part of the guide. It covers Yumka Dechen Gyalmo and offers advice on such topics as preparing the location, setting up a shrine, chanting the liturgy, and playing a bell and drum. This final section also provides instructions for all the remaining sādhanas within the Longchen Nyingtik tradition. The manual concludes with critical advice and instructions for anyone seeking to undertake retreat, such as:
“When you are in retreat, unless you keep to the boundaries strictly, there will be a great risk of distraction. Therefore, do not be lax. Unless you have confidence that you are truly diligent, do not make a long-term commitment to retreat at the outset. If you do, you may be tempted to give up. Therefore, extend your commitment gradually.
Think: “During this approach and accomplishment retreat, I shall not be swayed by any adverse conditions that may arise”. If you can generate a strong determination such as this to bring the practice to completion, with great and heartfelt courage, then this will create the auspicious interdependent conditions for completing the retreat. This is an absolutely vital, crucial point.”
Originally, all three chapters are part of one large text, yet for the sake of convenience, we have published it in three sections. The earlier chapters can be found here:
The translation of this text was funded by a Light of Dharma grant from the Terton Sogyal Foundation, which we reported about last year in this blog.
Our second text is the Recitation Manual for the Gathering of Awesome Ones (Palchen Düpa), Heart Practice of the Vidyādharas, by Jigme Lingpa. This retreat manual describes how to arrange the maṇḍala and shrine for retreat, and then explains the three sections of the practice, detailing the visualizations for each: (1) the approach phase of the peaceful deities, (2) the accomplishment phase of the wrathful deities, and (3) the application of activities.