So-called "commitment" is only an invitation to your authenticity. Dakini's Whisper merely invites you to engage in this path authentically aligned with your Buddha Nature - no more or no less. If you feel overwhelmed by the word "commitment" which sometimes feels like an obligation, please take a big breath and pause. Listen to your heart's yearning. How am I authentic at this given moment in time? It's true that sometimes the waves of the ocean called life events attempt to sweep you away from the track. I know that one. When that happens, why don't you learn to surf the waves skillfully and swiftly even if we may fail and be tossed into the ocean from time to time? But keep the momentum going.

Posted by Jens "gCod [chod] is like taking a jet plane to Enlightenment rather than walking." Source: Savvas, "A Study of the Profound Path of Gcod," 83. This was told to her by "the great gCod master the Venerable Zong Rinpoche" in personal communication in India, 1980. When Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche was asked why he is focusing on the study and practice of Chöd nowadays he explained the following: The time is ripe (dus la bab) for the teachings of Chöd and Tara to spread. This is due to our previous karma and aspirations as well as due to the kindness of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Furthermore, this is the dark age of degeneration (snyig ma’i dus), which is teeming with people who are greedy, disturbed, distracted, attached to material wealth, always busy with the body, speech, and mind, and so forth. However, at this time, people are also very sharp and very interested in the study. Chöd is extremely effective in helping one let go of any kind of clinging and attachment to outer phenomena, to one’s body, and to the notion of a personal self. If one wants to be truly kind to oneself, one should strive in this way for enlightenment and practice the “undeluded view.” Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, “Teachings on Chöd,” Pharping, annual fall seminar retreat, November 27, 2015. I was told by a student who had undertaken the three-year retreat under Kalu Rinpoche, that Rinpoche recommended Tara and Chöd as, particularly effective practices in these times. If you have additional quotes on the topic, please feel free to share them here.

Spiritual inquires into your Dharma journey or what I call "spiritual topography of the path" keeps us honest and authentic on this profound path. Here is my invitation to this process. Your feedback and reflections are most welcome on this blog. https://vimeopro.com/user50894646/inquiry-into-spiritual-togography (PW: IST) If you'd like to volunteer for transcribing this video, please contact Ellen. Thank you!

Jens DW Manager 2019 has been a very momentous year for Dakini’s Whisper, and its members. It saw the first of DW’s own retreats, one in Europe and one in the U.S., that brought together students from all over the world. This was only possible due to the deep commitment of our dear teacher – but also of the students. It is profoundly moving to consider how people from across different countries and cultures are genuinely connecting with such a rare path, coming from a single, seemingly ordinary woman who lived a thousand years ago far far away in high Tibet. So many things must be aligned for us to have this precious opportunity, which in itself is but momentary in the grander scheme of things. Just like a mara asked Shakyamuni Buddha to postpone his enlightenment just a little bit, our minds often play games promising great things in the future… tomorrow, tomorrow. But for once, we can be confident that our great fortune is here today, and we can instead be sure that it will not last – if we don’t realize it. 2020 will see the deepening of our paths and of our traveling together individually. It is only possible through the profoundly compassionate, yet relentless commitment of our teacher. Looking back at my life, and also at those around me, it is nothing short of miraculous. May all sentient beings benefit. ________________________________________________ Melissa DW Communications The end of 2019 marks a period of growth for Dakini’s Whisper. In April, we held the first Dakini’s Whisper retreat in Sweden, as well as retreats in the U.S. Our membership is growing, and we have volunteers coming forward, doing valuable transcription work. We have members on four continents. This international dimension of our community brings much richness to our community, even if it makes scheduling complicated! Feedback from members not only keeps us connected but also strengthens our performance. Khandro-la’s vision and Dakini’s Whisper activities function because of the support and generosity of volunteers. Thank you to everyone for the generosity of both spirit and time. One of the things that I find so beneficial about our community is the open-hearted sharing and the sense of connectedness and affection. Our collective willingness to look deeply into ourselves no matter what we might find seems like the breathing heart of Machik’s intent. My prayer for the new year is the Dakini’s Whisper will continue to be meaningful for all of its members. As well I pray that our small number of members (5) in Australia grows from strength to strength and that our plans to host Khandro-la in Australia in 2020, come to successful fruition. ________________________________________________ Ellen DW Volunteer Coordinator I joined my path towards awakening with Dakini Whisper’s in the Spring, 2019.  As a recent retiree from hospice work and a longtime practitioner of the Buddha’s teachings, I was committed to a more contemplative life.  I felt that in Dakini’s Whisper I had discovered my longing for genuine guidance. I dove into the teachings and learning opportunities with focus and enthusiasm.  My spiritual path has become quite lively with the visualizations, melodies, drumming, chanting, recitations, and dancing of Subtle Body classes, Ganden Cho practices, and the Five Dakinis retreat! Feeling frighteningly inspired by Machik’s life and teachings that are so directly taught by Khandro-la, I see that this is a daring, fierce, and joyful journey of fearlessness, let there be no doubt about it.  In fact, there is much about the journey that I find counterintuitive and uncomfortable. These direct experiences give me a glimpse of the awakening presence that is so near yet sometimes feels so far and inaccessible. And so, in 2020 I am jumping off the cliff (as Khandro-la says) with fellow, like-minded travelers of whom I have already become quite fond.  I recall a quote attributed to Chogyam Trungpa, “the bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there’s no ground.” AH! AH! AH! ________________________________________________ Ryan DW US Pith Coordinator Today, as I was doing my evening practice at the house I’m sitting, I found myself reflecting back to almost exactly one year earlier when I was staying at the same house and practicing in the same room. I had just encountered Dakini’s Whisper and at that point was reciting the Vajrayogini 8-line praises, fumbling through a few of the Subtle Body Training exercises as best I could, and longing to bring together the melodies and damaru part for our Cho sadhana. Much has moved in my life since then, and much has also moved within our community. We gathered together in Sweden then dispersed, and more of us coalesced together in Oregon during the summer before parting ways. We’ve undertaken new practices and familiarized ourselves more deeply with old ones. At the same time, there is something that hasn’t shifted, which I think is the inspiration that each of us carries with us. For myself, it is easy to imagine that I have lost the thread of that inspiration, but when I stop and survey the footprints of the path that has led me here, it is unmistakable. Our lives continue to move in their own directions, and sometimes we meet together in virtual space and other times we do not. But the most important thing that we share, I think, is our practice. Whatever our sidetracks or stumbling blocks (I’ve found plenty of them) we are persevering in the same direction, following after the masters, who I pray we will meet in ever-deepening intimacy.

"In the house of lovers, the music never stops, the walls are made of songs & the floor dances." - Rumi In our SBT session today, Mellisa and I listened to and danced with the music in our bodies, our minds, and our hearts. As my music is ready, it feels like coming together - the orchestra that is my body, musical scale that is my sensations, the conductor that is my awareness, and the musicality that is my breath. Join us for this inner journey and exploration of this internal landscape!

Post by Melissa, I've found Khandro-la's subtle body training and / or Tibetan yoga training of enormous benefit - both physically and as a means of integrating the Cho process. 'when the mind moves, the body follows' - I think this is a quote from somewhere and something I've experienced in these sessions. Much more than physical exercise more a subtle but powerful transformative process.

"You carry all the ingredients To turn your existence into joy, Mix them, mix them!" - Hafiz

“Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and the moon as well as all the pilgrimage places… I have not entered another temple as blissful as my own body.” – Saraha, 10th cent. How can I enter the blissful temple of my own body? How can I fully experience my body as if it’s the entirety of the universe? Does such an achievement apply only to ancient yogis and not to us in modern life? Ancient traditions suggest that awakening or enlightenment is found in the body and nowhere else. Over a thousand years ago in Tibet, the technology of the Subtle Body Training was developed by advanced yogis to awaken into the beauty and perfection of who they already had been. It’s hard to even imagine that this awareness could become our experience especially when I consider my relationship to my own body in the midst of a stressful life. However, amazingly enough, I’ve found a set of yogic exercises that are an extension of these ancient techniques that are very beneficial and adapted to modern times and allow us to experience our own blissful temple. Undeniably, these exercises were designed to untie the knots in our energy system and open the energy channels of the body. These exercises engage our entire body from the physical to the most subtle and profound energy levels. In this way, I can enter into the blissful temple of my own body without undertaking a pilgrimage to the sacred places of the external world.