A Typical Day for Drupon Rinpoche
WHERE IS DRUPON KHEN RINPOCHE USUALLY STAYING?
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, is where Drupon Khen Rinpoche resides and where he has been devoting most of his time and efforts over the last few years. He spends at least nine months a year in the retreat centre with his students, giving at least three or four teachings each day, meditating with them, giving them advice and instructions based on each student’s level.
There are currently over 90 students practicing in long term retreat (four years or above) at Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center. Since 2015 Drupon Khen Rinpoche has reduced the amount of time he spends abroad and now travels for no more than three months each year. It is Drupon Khen Rinpoche’s feeling that he is better able to serve the buddhadharma and sentient beings by dedicating most of his time to the development of a single group of dedicated students, with the hope that they come to fully embody the teachings and maintain the lineage.
Since April 2018, at the request of the khenpos and students of Thrangu Shedra (Thrangu Monastery’s main educational institution), Drupon Khen Rinpoche now visits the Shedra at Namobuddha four times a month, giving two teachings on each visit. He makes the two hour journey from Thrangu Sekhar in the early evening and returns mid-morning so that the teachings at the retreat centre are not disrupted.
DRUPON RINPOCHE’S CURRENT DAILY TEACHING SCHEDULE
THRANGU SEKHAR RETREAT CENTRE, BHAKTAPUR, NEPAL
8-10am Meditation session with international students in the six-year retreat programme. Rinpoche occasionally uses some of this time, when everyone is gathered together, to give heart advice relevant to the students’ practice and general conduct.
10-12am Teaching Tilo and Naro Ling, the lamas of Thrangu Monastery, who are in the traditional four year retreat. The teaching and practice of the retreat follows the retreat programme of the Karma Kamtsang tradition.
1-3pm Teaching Tibetan to the resident children and young monks and nuns or assisting their memorisation of the philosophical treatises.
(3-7pm Dharma teaching to either English or Chinese speaking international students: )
3-5pm Teaching the international students, translated into English (Current teaching: The Preliminaries in The Ocean of Definitive Meaning)
5-7pm Teaching Chinese speaking students directly in Chinese (Current teaching: The Preliminaries in The Ocean of Definitive Meaning / The Seven Points of Mind Training, The Great Path to Awakening)
7-9pm One-to-one meditation question and answer sessions for the lamas in the traditional four year retreat
Every fifth day from 3-5pm Rinpoche teaches Tibetan to the international students. Then from 5-7pm Rinpoche gives a teaching specifically for the staff of the retreat centre, which can be attended by the Tibetan speaking international students.
THRANGU SHEDRA, NAMOBUDDHA, NEPAL
On the 9th, 14th, 24th, 29th of the Tibetan calendar, following the afternoon teaching in Thrangu Sekhar, Drupon Khen Rinpoche travels to Thrangu Shedra in Namobuddha, and gives a teaching from 19.00 to 21.00. The following morning he teaches from 05.30 until 07.00, before returning to the retreat centre. In the Shedra he is currently teaching Jamgong Kongtrul Rinpoche’s Heart-Nectar Advice.
