Drala Jong

11/04/2026

Delighted to welcome
David Matthews and Andrij Hoshulak to our page.
Drala Jong
Aro gTér Nyingma Vajrayana Retreat Centre
Pant-y-Porthman
Banc-y-Ffordd,
Llandysul
Sir Gærfyrddin / Carmarthenshire
WALES
SA44 4RY
Britain

26/02/2026

Last weekend at the conclusion of the Losar retreat Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen situated 10 Guru Rinpoche plaques around the land here at Drala Jong. This is part of the Guru Rinpoche plaque globe placing project. Thank to everyone who has made this possible.

'Placing Guru Rinpoche plaques on the land at Drala Jong has been a joy and a privilege. We have always described Drala Jong as having in inner shrine hall and outer shrine hall. The inner shrine hall is the place where we arrange the many statues and thangkas of the Aro gTér Nyingma Lineage — as well as the assemblage of lineage treasures, the ancient phurbas and the iron chain-link shawl. The less obvious lineage treasure is the 500 year old woodland where we practise the 21 Sem’dzin of Dzogchen men-ngag-dé. When meeting Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche Jig’drèl Yeshé Dorje in 1971, he was described as Guru Rinpoche in person. There was no doubt about it. A life-sized life-like statue will reside in the inner shrine hall — and now that will be reflected in the Guru Rinpoche plaques which adorn the trees in the woodland. They are much smaller than the statue — but they are radiant and larger than life in their empathic statement of enduring devotion. Guru Rinpoche is the heart of the lineage.'
Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Dèchen
The first Guru Rinpoche day of the year of the Fire Horse

19/02/2026

Drala Jong has a newsletter, read the Losar edition and consider subscribing, see the links in the comments

19/09/2025

Join us for our next weekend retreat: 17th - 19th October 2025. Dzogchen: Spacious Passion - The Geography of the Elements, with Ngak’chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen “Through self-liberation of emotions, we can explode the banal confines of our addiction to the circular treadmill mediocrity”, Khandro Déchen. Join this enlightening weekend if you have the courage to experience the heights and depths of emotions as an opportunity to be totally alive. More info and book your place: lamrimcentre.org.uk/courses/p/dzogchen-spacious-passion Everyone welcome and suitable for anyone who wishes to attend.

Date: Friday 17th to Sunday 19th October 2025 Time: Arrive Friday evening, closing Sunday after lunch Format : Residential Retreat, Onsite Overview Vajrayana Buddhism, explains the emotions and elements as the portal of possibility. The elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space ar

09/12/2024

I, a roaring lion, do not need a palace:
My lion palace is the snow mountains’ exalted heights.
I shake my excellent turquoise mane as I please
As I roam at will in delightful snow mountain ravines.

I, an eagle, do not need a fortress:
My white eagle fortress is the loftiest cliff.
I spread wide my excellent wings as I please
As I soar through the space of the vast blue heavens.

I, a tiger, do not need a castle:
My tiger castle is the densest jungle.
I show off my stripes as I please
As I set out to prowl in the best sandalwood forests.

I, a golden bee, do not need farmland:
My bee farmland is the finest lotus groves.
I sing beautiful melodious songs as I please
As I hover to take the sweetest tasting nectar.

I, a yogi, do not need a home:
My yogi home is good any place I roam.
I naturally achieve my two noble goals
As I set out to wander aimlessly as I please.

- Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshé Dorjé - Wisdom Nectar

01/12/2024

Mé-tsal Wangmo & Dorji
Thank you for the pleasant & heart warming evening shared with me. I look forward to be in your service to the benefit of humanity & sentient others at large.

I rejoice this moment & beyond what is only left to unfold.
Best wishes for your journey ahead with lot of love & respect
🙏🙏🙏
💙
🧚🏻‍♂️

03/11/2024

Drala Jong༄gTértön Khyungchen Aro Lingma (gTer sTon khyung chen A ro gLing ma / གྟེར་སྟོན་ཁྱུང་ཆེན་ཨ་རོ་གླིང་མ་ / 1886-1923) facilitates ‘a-Shül Pema Legden (‘a shul pad ma legs lDan / འ་ཤུལ་པདྨ་ལེགས་ལྡན་ / —1951) in taking his leave of ‘Khordong Gompa.
The ‘Khordong throne holder, gTertön Kaldèn Lingpa (gTer sTon bsKal lDan gLing pa / གཏེར་སྟོན་བསྐལ་ལྡན་གླིང་པ་) was the Tsawa’i Lama of ‘a-Shül Pema Legden. Kaldèn Lingpa did not have long to live and he wished ‘a-Shül Pema Legden both to find a Sangyum and replacement Tsawa’i Lama.
He therefore sent ‘a-Shül Pema Legden to visit the mysterious yogini who was sitting on the hillside above ‘Khordong Gompa. He recognised her as a gTértön and incarnation of Yeshé Tsogyel through both direct perception and dreams of clarity.

‘Khordong is in the Sér-ta Valley of Gor-gön Thang , Golok — and Khyungchen Aro Lingma had travelled there from Kham in order to fulfil the prediction of her mother Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér in finding her sangyum.

This historical-narrative thangka was painted by Ngakma Pema Zangmo in 1991.

According to the lineage history, Khyungchen Aro Lingma arrived on the plain of Gor-gön Thang and found Sér-ta Valley. Seeing ‘Khordong gompa in the distance, she recognised it from dreams of clarity which had occurred both in her childhood and on her travels North — consequent to the parinirvana of her parents.

She sat on a rock on the opposite side of the river from ‘Khordong gompa — but within a short enough distance to be seen.
She remained there for several days.
Having noticed the yogini sitting on the hill, Kaldèn Lingpa instructed 'a-Shül to go to her — and find out what she wanted.
He said
“Come to this window. ‘a-Shül. Do you see the yogini sitting there?"

'a-Shúl replied that he saw her.

"Then go and ask her who she is, whence she haiks, and what we may do for her accommodation."

‘a-Shul did as he was instructed. He left the gompa, went down across the river and ascended the hill to where Aro Lingma was sitting. He greeted her in an honorific fashion — and asked the questions as Kaldèn Lingpa had instructed.
Aro Lingma said nothing.
She simply stared without blinking.

‘a-Shül Pema Legden asked her again -. but, again, she simply stared at him. He then asked a third and final time, with the same response — but this time she smiled at him. ‘a-Shül didn't know what to do.
He felt it would be rude to ask more than three times — and so he bade her ‘sit in comfort' and left to report what had happened to Khalden Lingpa.

When he arrived in Kaldèn Lingpa's room, the great gTértön asked what had happened. ‘a-Shül Pema Legden reported that he had asked the yogini who she was, where she had come from, and what they could do for her — but that she had not replied.
“She just stared at me and smiled. I came straight back here to tell you."
Kaldèn Lingpa observed him for a moment and said

“But that was over three hours ago?"

‘a-Shul could not account for the time and apologised. Khalding Lingpa waved away the apology. It did not take more than a moment for him to consider the matter

"Then” he said “you must go back and ask her a second time. Ask her who she is, whence she hails, and what we can do to make her stay at ‘Khordong commodious.
Go now and return with greater rapidity that before ."

‘a-Shül did as he was instructed. He left the gompa, walked down across the river and ascended the hill where Aro Lingma was sitting. He greeted her in an honorific fashion and asked her the questions as Khalding Lingpa had instructed.
She made no reply.
She simply stared at him without blinking.
He asked her again — but again she simply stared at him. He then asked her a final time, with the same response — but this time she laughed ferociously.

The sound made 'a-Shũl nervous.
He did not know what to do. He was completely perplexed and did not know how he was going to tell Khalding Lingpa that he had not been able to communicate with the yogini. He felt it would be rude to ask more than three times, and so he bade her 'sit in comfort' and left to report what had happened to Khalden Lingpa.

When he reached Khalden Lingpa's room, the gTértön asked him what had happened.
'a-Shul reported that he had asked her who she was, where she had come from, and what they could do for her — but that she had not replied.
He explained that she had simply stared at him — and then, on the third time of asking, she had laughed wrathfully.

“Then” he said “I came straight back here to tell you."

Kaldèn Lingpa observed ‘a-Shül Pema Legden him for a moment and said

“But that was three days ago."

'a-Shül could not account for the time and feared that Kaldèn Lingpa would not believe that he had no memory of the time that had passed. He apologised profusely but Kaldèn Lingpa simply laughed gently — and said that it did not matter.
He then told 'a-Shul to try one last time.

“Go to see who she is, whence she comes, and how best we may render her hospitality."

‘a-Shül did as he was instructed. He left ‘Khordong gompa, and went to see Aro Lingma — but never returned.

Khyungchen Aro Lingma recognised ‘a-Shul Pema Legden immediately as being the sang-yab predicted by Jomo Pema 'ö-Zér and took 'a-Shül as her consort.

Drala Jong.
Aro gTér Nyingma Vajrayana Retreat Centre
Pant-y-Porthman
Banc-y-Ffordd,
Llandysul
Sir Gærfyrddin / Carmarthenshire
WALES

02/11/2024

Drala Jong༄ Thödpa (thod pa / ཐོད་པ་ / kapala) Skull Bowls. Ngak’chang Rinpoche said “I acquired these thödpa in Clement Town — the Tibetan Village near Dehra Dun in India. They were rough when I bought them and the maker sold them to me for a greatly reduced price because they were unfinished. I knew that with time and effort I could finish them to a higher level than ghetto maker — and thus it was my pleasure to bring the bronze skull to a mirror finish. I left the insides of the skulls rough and enameled the interiors. They have now served for over 1,000 tsog’khorlos.”
Skull bowls are employed in Vajrayana practices such as tsog’khorlo (tshogs ‘khorlo / ཚོག་འཁོར་ལོ་ / ganachakra puja). Thödpa are made of human skulls (male and female as a pair). Smaller ones are made of metal. These small copper and bronze thödpa are from Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen’s chogtsé (throne table).

Tsog’khorlo is the Feast Profferment which celebrates the Vajra Master — and mends breaches in damtsig (gDam tshig / གདམ་ཚིག་/ samaya).
The two skull bowls contain the Sha-nga Düd-tsi nga (sha lNga bDud rTsi lNga / ཤ་ལྔ་བདུད་རྩི་ལྔ་ ) the five ‘meats’ and the five ‘nectars’. The ‘meats’ are usually represented by any kind of meat — and the nectars by alcohol.
The five ‘meats’ and the five ‘nectars’ represent things that are usually considered foul and disgusting.
This profferment symbolises transcendending the concept of samsara and nirvana as a mutually-exclusive polarity.
It symbolises transcendendence of the ‘pure / impure dichotomy’.
These profferments are important in the Three Inner Tantras.

The five meats (shar nga – shar lNga / ཤར་ལྔ་) are:
❶̂ human flesh (shar chen / ཤར་ཆེན་) ❷̂ cow flesh (nor shar/ ནོར་ཤར་)
❸̂ dog flesh (khyi shar / ཁྱི་ཤར་) ❹̂ elephant flesh (gLang shar / ཀཉལང་ཤར་) ❺̂ horse flesh (rTa shar / རྟ་ཤར་).

The five nectars (Düdtsi Na-nga - bDud rTsi sNa lNga / བདུད་རྩི་) are: ❶̂ urine (gCin / ཧཅིན་) ❷̂ excrement (sKyag / སྐྱག་) ❸̂ blood (khrag / ཁྲག་) ❹̂ semen (khu / ཁུ་) ❺̂ pus (chu ser / ཆུ་སེར་)

Ngak’chang Rinpoche wrote:
‘The five meats and five nectars represent the overthrow of mundane sacradotalism
– as a ‘spiritual’ path of social control and pedestrian mediocrity.
Where religion becomes a set of laws that have to be obeyed—rather than a body of knowledge that has to be discovered—reality needs to be revealed through overturning political and spiritual correctness.
The five meats and five nectars were reviled by the Brahmanical tendencies which remained in Buddhism even though Buddhism was no longer part of the Hindu culture from which it sprang.
Apart from human flesh we can eat what we please. As for the five nectars we are free to experiment – but we have no obligation to avoid these things in terms of our societies. The five meats and five nectars were almost universally not taken literally in Tibet – they simply represented the need to go beyond codified limits.
In the West, Buddhism is not encumbered by Brahmanism – but by political correctness and puritanism.
In the current atmosphere of the politicisation of ethical values—and cosseting demands for safety—originality and natural kindness are crippled. Simply partaking of meat and alcohol therefore, serves the original purpose of the five meats and five nectars.’

Khandro Déchen said
“In ancient India this profferment overturned the ‘purity-obsession’ of Brahminism — but it now has equal importance in overturning rhe tyrannical tendencies within ‘political correctness’ and ‘spiritual correctness’. Neither are function in terms of Vajrayana.
The humanitarian value of certain aspects of political correctness is not in question — simply the idea that they can override Vajrayana.”

Ngak’chang Rinpoche added. “Vajrayana cannot not be judged according to criteria which are not based on nondual realisation.”

Drala Jong
Aro gTér Nyingma Vajrayana Retreat Centre
Pant-y-Porthman
Banc-y-Ffordd,
Llandysul
Sir Gærfyrddin / Carmarthenshire
WALES
SA44 4RY
Britain

29/10/2024

Drala Jong༄Kyabjé Künzang Dorje Rinpoche gave a great attention to ‘principle and function’ in terms of understanding the Buddhist Vehicles — because so much misunderstanding exists as to the differences in the principles of each vehicle. Another area of confusion exists where the same or similar Sanskrit words are used in different Indian religions.
Last week at Drala Jong Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen gave an in depth talk on the precise meaning of nonduality as the term is used in Buddhism. The word in Tibetan is Nyi’mèd (gNyis ‘med / གསྙི་འམེད་ / advaya). Khandro Déchen said
“Nyi’mèd——nonduality——is the essential principle in Vajrayana Buddhism — particularly in Dzogchen. It is however, a principle which is often misunderstood. Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche used to emphasise that Nyi’mèd is often misunderstood as equating to emptiness (sTong Pa nyid་/ སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ / shunyata) — whereas Nyi’mèd actually pertains to the nonduality of emptiness and form. Basically, nyi’mèd is simply what is described in the Heart Sutra. ‘Form is emptiness and emptiness is form’. From this basis one cannot prioritise ‘emptiness’ and relegate ‘form’ to samsara.”
Ngak’chang Rinpoche was asked about the difference between nonduality in Dzogchen and nonduality in Advaita Vedanta — because some ‘nondual teachers’ offering generic ‘nondual teachings’ were saying that the nonduality of which they spoke was the same. Ngak’chang Rinpoche replied

“Advaya and advaita are not the same — just as ‘no’ and ‘never’ are not the same. They are both negating words but whereas ‘no’ might mean ‘no at the moment - but possibly yes later — ‘never’ rules out any possibility of ‘yes’.
So, nonduality is merely an English word which is used to translate two distinct Sanskrit words——advaya and advaita——which have distinctly different meanings.
‘Khordong gTérchen Tulku Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche explained this to me in 1979. He said the it was an important distinction.
Advaya is the Buddhist term and it can be translated as ‘unique / identical’. It refers to the indivisibility of emptiness and form.
Advaita is the Hindu term which means ‘one without a second’.
Advaita is commonly translated as ‘nonduality’ —— but should be translated as ‘monism’ or ‘monist non-dualism’. Advaita refers to the ‘indivisibility of God and God’s creation’. This means that when one becomes ‘God realised’, one becomes God —— and therefore disappears into God. So, according to Advaita Vedanta ‘everything is one’ — and there is only God. This is not a Buddhist idea. Buddhism denies monism. It also denies dualism, nihilism, and eternalism. So, in terms of Dzogchen, nondual realisation does not betoken ‘becoming a dewdrop that slips into the shining sea’. This is not a Buddhist idea.

Khandro Déchen said “Dzogchen does not deny individuality or personality. This does not mean that Dzogchen reifies anything or substantiates ‘atman’ (bDag / བྡག་) ‘everlasting soul’. The individual is seen as empty of solid, permanent, separate, continuous, or defined characteristics —— but still displays impermanent manifestations which are limitless in their variety. In Dzogchen, nonduality is not monist — and so plurality poses no threat.”

Ngak’chang Rinpoche said “Some people insist that there is no difference between Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta — and react as if those who maintained the difference were being aggressively divisive. This is unfortunate— because people ought to be able to accept difference. Tolerance is the acceptance of difference. Forcing sameness on all religions is not tolerance — it is totalitarianism.
Every religion has its unique qualities and each religion benefits people in different ways according to their different needs and dispositions.
The attempt to make them all the same is the actual aggression — even though it tends to be seen as the more open minded option. Buddhism is not a theistic religion — but that does not mean that there are not qualities of the theistic religions that we find admirable and beautiful. Christianity certainly has the best music. Händel’s Messiah is one of my favourite pieces of music.

Drala Jong
Aro gTér Nyingma Vajrayana Retreat Centre
Pant-y-Porthman
Banc-y-Ffordd,
Llandysul
Sir Gærfyrddin / Carmarthenshire
WALES
SA44 4RY
Britain