International Webinar/Retreat
February 20-24, 2021
based on the book Lotus Language by Tarthang Tulku
with Robin Caton, Elske van de Hulst, and Jonathan Clewley
“So much of what it means to be human is related to our use of language. It is, for this reason, that understanding how language frames experience should be a human priority.“
– Tarthang Tulku in Lotus Language, p xxxiv

It is our great pleasure to announce that Dharma College Berkeley and Nyingma Centrum Nederland will be jointly presenting a five-day webinar retreat based on Tarthang Tulku’s Lotus Trilogy, focusing especially on the book Lotus Language.

Our identities are established through language, and language shapes the way we structure our world. The words we use when thinking or speaking can create the most inspiring feelings, or provoke negativity in ourselves and others. In this retreat, we’ll look more closely at this uniquely creative, yet often overlooked, aspect of being human.

What role does silence play in making meaning? Who thinks when ‘I’ think? How can we open beyond the borders of language to live a more meaningful life?

For who?
Those who have participated in any of the prior Lotus Trilogy programs offered by Dharma College or Nyingma Centrum Nederland are welcome to continue their journey with us in this February retreat. New students curious to explore the Lotus teachings are also warmly invited.

All participants should be prepared and willing to deeply and intimately investigate the architecture of their daily experience and the role that language plays in establishing ‘reality’. This investment in open and caring inquiry will bring freedom from limiting habitual patterns and will help you wake up to your full human potential.

Lotus Language book
The book Lotus Language by Tarthang Tulku is available at https://dharma-college.com/lotus-bookstore/. Please order timely – there will be readings from the book during retreat sessions.

The retreat will be presented in English.

Language, Silence, and Meaning: Knowing Beyond the World of Words
Webinars and Retreat

Date: Saturday, February 20th – Wednesday, February 24th, 2020
Time:

45 min | Practices from Joy of Being Jonathan Clewley

75 min | Lotus Language session Robin Caton

75 min | Lotus Language session Elske van de Hulst

Each day, prior to the Lotus Language sessions led by Robin and Elske, Jonathan Clewley will offer supportive practices based on Tarthang Tulku’s book Joy of Being.

Caroline van Tuyll is closely involved in preparing and monitoring the content of the retreat, but will not be presenting sessions.

Bios of additional instructors:

Elske van de Hulst worked in the theatre as an actress, director and author, between 1969 and 1995. She taught at the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten and for many years was a member of the Dutch Arts Council. In 1998 she started studying the theatre of the mind, guided by Tarthang Tulku’s books, and has not stopped since. She is now a co-dean at the Amsterdam Nyingma Centrum and teaches Meditation, Knowledge of Freedom, Revelations of Mind and Lotus Trilogy teachings in Amsterdam.

Jonathan Clewley worked for 30 years as a Clinical Scientist in London, before retiring to a small town in Heart of England where he now lives. He came to Tarthang Rinpoche’s teachings through Kum Nye, following many programs by Arnaud Maitland, and is now an authorized Kum Nye teacher. Since 2013, Jonathan has taken classes in both Revelations of Mind and the Lotus Trilogy books at Dharma College, where he is currently being trained as a teacher. His particular interest in this retreat is to explore how Kum Nye practice, especially that presented in The Joy of Being, can help with deepening understanding of the teachings presented in Revelations of Mind and the Lotus Trilogy.

Daily Schedule:

Retreat Program of Sessions

Saturday, Feb 20

Session 1 Introduction

Session 2 Language is our Companion and Guide

Session 3 Language and sound

Sunday, Feb 21

session 4 Joy of Being

session 5 Swimming in Words

session 6 Making Meaning

Monday, Feb 22

session 7 Joy of Being

session 8 ‘I am’ and ‘I have’

session 9 Positioning

Tuesday, Feb 23

session 10 Joy of Being

session 11 Sense and Nonsense

session 12 Products and Producers

Wednesday, Feb 24

session 13 Joy of Being

session 14 Time, Space, Signals

session 15 Knowing Beyond the World of Words

Language, Silence and Meaning: Knowing Beyond the World of Words