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It is Sacred Journey's esteemed pleasure to offer an incredible chance to participate in an amazing Sacred Journey to
the power spots of Lhasa, TIbet. In the high mountain cave complexes and monasteries of the Himalayan Mountains we
will journey to some of the most sacred places on Earth and visit the monks, nuns, yogis and local people of these
sacred mountain hermitages. In our pilgrimage to these wonderful power spots we will have time for personal
meditation practice, group practice, dream yoga inductions and for participating clinicians a chance to
participate in Tibet Healing Mission work.
Our dream yoga guide Michael Katz is a clinical psychologist who has over thirty years experience in Dream Yoga
from both the Eastern and Western traditions. He has lectured and led workshops all around the world on dream
yoga and lucidity for personal growth and enlightenment opening hearts and minds with the ancient traditions of
dream yoga. A practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen meditation since 1974 under some of the most famous
masters of Tibet he is also editor of the well known book Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light by Chogyal
Namkhai Norbu, and author of The White Dolphin and the forthcoming book Dreams the Royal road to Enlightenment.
This summer on the roof of the world Michael will lead us to enhance creativity, self-exploration, and
spiritual/psychological growth through powerful techniques of lucid dreaming derived principally from the
Tibetan dream yoga tradition. Michael will conduct inductions for dream lucidity while we visit the
extraordinary holy caves which have been pilgrimage places and retreat places for enlightened yogis since ancient
times. These highly consecrated power spots are perhaps the greatest places in the world to enhance dream yoga
lucidity. This is truly an amazing opportunity to delve into the nature of mind, the true source of happiness.
In addition participating healers and clinicians will have opportunities to participate in Tibet Healing Mission
work offering their services to the many monks, nuns, yogi, and lay people in retreat we will meet at these
holy sites.
Sacred Journeys is also happy to arrange other retreats or travel plans you might have in China. And so the
journey begins!
August 3, - arrive in Beijing, capital city of the Central Kingdom. Free day to rest up or visit the Forbidden City,
Yong He Gong Monastery, White Cloud Temple, Summer Palace or the thousands of amazing sites Beijing has to offer.
August 4, - Fly to Lhasa and drive to the spiritual center of Tibet, the Samye Monastery. The Samye Monastery is
Tibet's first Buddhist temple and was built through the vision of Guru Rinpoche as a Mandala offering of the
cosmos with the central temple representing Mount Meru, the center of the universe. It is three stories high
representing the three major Dharma nations of India, China and Tibet. It is flanked by four major stupas
representing the four continents and the four elements. There are two major temples that ornament the monastery
like the sun and moon, and there are innumerable stupas surrounding the temple in the outer perimeter representing
the vastness of space. Today there are about one thousand practitioners in residence at Samye Monastery, Samye
Buddhist University, and in deep retreat at the Samye Chimpu caves in the mountain oasis behind the monastery
where both monastics and nagpas cultivate all aspects of the Buddha Dharma. Many great masters come from all
over Tibet, China and India to bestow empowerments, teachings and blessing here and during major temple ceremonies
thousands come to dance and sing in the mandala that bestows all wishes. When King Trisong Detsun commissioned
Samye the workers would build the temple during the day and hostile spirits would tear it down at night. When
Guru Rinpoche arrived to help build the monastery he stood on top of the hill and made it rain meteoric iron which
dispelled the disruptive spirits so the temple could be built. All through out the valley you can find these metoric
iron rain drops and collect them for your own purification and protection. In the afternoon the Tibet Healing Mission
will offer it's services to the Samye community. In the evening we will begin our introduction to dream yoga.
August 5, - Drive and hike up to the caves of Samye Chimpu. Samye Chimpu has one hundred and eight caves with self
emanating statues, hand prints and foot prints of Guru Rinpoche, Yeshe Tsogyal and other great masters. The caves
are full of nuns and yogis some that have been there for over twenty years. This is the main place where Guru
Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal conducted most of their miraculous activities. Originally it was a dry desert valley but
Guru Rinpoche poked his staff in the peak and out poured nectar water which turned the valley into a lush oasis.
The river still flows today nurturing the entire valley and its inhabitants. In the Guru Rinpoche you can sit where
he sat and turned the wheel of dharma. Just bellow is the Yeshe Tsogyal cave, which has a self emanating rangjung
statue of Guru Rinpoche growing out of the cave wall. The Tibet Healing Mission will provide services for the
cave dwellers of Samye Chimphu. In the evening we will return to Samye Monastery and continue our dream yoga workshop.
August 6, - From the Samye Monastery we will drive to the caves of Drak Young Zul. Drak Young Zul is the sacred
abode of the wrathful Yamantaka and is one of the eight major sites of Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal. It is
another amazingly high energy cave complex where Guru Rinpoche turned the wheel of the wrathful tantras. The Tibet
Mission will provide services for the all the monastics of this remote Tibetan community.
August 7, - From Drak Young Zul we will travel on to Chuwo Ri another one of the eight principle caves of Guru Rinpoche.
It is also sacred to the First Karmapa. It has one hundred and eight springs, one hundred and eight caves and it is
said by Guru Rinpoche that one hundred and eight masters will achieve buddhahood here. The conditions are very rustic
here but even more reason for the Tibet Healing Mission to offer their services to such devoted people. In the
evening we will continue our dream yoga.
August 8, - From Chuwo Ri we will travel on to the caves of Terdrak and the hot Springs of the Drikung Kagyu nunnery.
This sacred wonderland is the branch nunnery of the Drikung Kagyu Monastery located about thirty miles away. It is
an amazing place where two high mountain peaks rise above two river valleys that form into a giant a giant
dakini. The rivers converge into a deep cave and next to it rise the wonderful nectar of the hot springs. These
hot springs have a Guru Rinpoche shrine and is a favorite place for practitioners to soak and heal in the dakini
nectar. This is a more populated nunnery complex and the Tibet Healing Mission will offer their clinical services
in the afternoon with dream yoga practice continuing in the evening.
August 9, - From Terdrak we will travel on to the cave complex of Drak Yerpa. Another one of the eight
principle Guru Rinpoche sacred cave sites there are many unusually large caves here with giant meadows
meandering down the valley. From the great expanse of the meadows it becomes easy to see the formation
of Troma Nagmo standing in the middle with a nectar river that flows from the yoni of her secret center.
The Tibet Healing Mission will continue offering their clinical services in the afternoon.
August 10 & 11, - From Drak Yerpa we will end our cave retreats and travel on to Lhasa, the ancient capital of Tibet.
We will stay in the spiritual center of Lhasa, the Jolkhang temple and Barkhor Bazzar. Built from a dream by the
sixth century Dharma King Songtsen Gampo, an emanation of Avalokitishvara, it houses Tibet's most famous statue
the Jowo. The Jowo is one of only three statues that was made during the Buddha Shakyamuni's lifetime and
was a gift of the Chinese Emperor when King Songtsen Gampo married his daughter Princess Wencheng, an emanation of Tara.
Above her head in the Jolkhang is a (rangjung) self-emanating image of Tara. It is an extremely active temple
with pilgrims from all over prostrating and circumambulating through the Barkhor Bazzar. The Barkhor Bazzar has
almost ever imaginable, statue, tanka, prayer flag or ritual item you'd ever need or want. It is like shopping
in a living meuseum. In Lhasa there are hundreds of large and small temples but by far the largest and most
famous is the Potala Palace. Originally there was only a small temple built there built by King Songtsen Gampo
but during the twelfth century when the Dalai Lamas came to power the fifth Dalai built his Palace there. It took
fifty years to complete and has been considered one of the seven wonders of the world. It towers over Lhasa
sitting on the Red Hill Peak at thirteen stories high representing the thirteen levels of heaven. There are over
a thousand rooms with all thirteen stupas of the Dalai Lamas, tens of thousands of statues and mandalas all made
out of tons of gold and precious jewels. A magnificent sight to behold, it is a good opportunity to see how the
Dalai Lamas of old lived. Other sites in Lhasa include the Norbulinka summer palace, Sera and Drepung Monasteries.
We will also visit the Menzikhang Herbal factory to see how traditional Tibetan diagnosis and medicine works. We
will visit some of the holy sites of Lhasa in the mornings and the Tibet Healing Mission will continue to offer
their services in the afternoons with dream yoga teachings in hte evenings.
August 12, - Return to Beijing, Free afternoon visit the Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, The Great Wall,
The Yong He Gong Monastery, The Great White Stupa Temple, Guang Ji Temple, Beihai Park or any of the numerous
sites to visit.
August 13, - Return to home country.
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Guru Rimpoche at Samye
Temple Disciplinarian
Hot Springs Shrine
Pilgrimage at Samye Monastery
Michael Katz
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