On October 4 and 5, 2025, we had the joy to welcome Nendo Rinpoche, who returned to Dhagpo Kagyu Ling to pursue the teaching on Buddha Amitabha begun the previous year and to confer its empowerment.
Referring to the fifty years of Dhagpo, Nendo Rinpoche rejoiced in the extremely favourable conditions that have been established to enable access to the Dharma, emphasizing that this is something rare and a fortune we should cherish. Nendo Rinpoche is the holder of the Nendo Kagyü lineage, and as such, of the transmissions known as “Dharmas of the Sky”, to which the Amitabha practice belongs. He recalled the legacy of the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, from whom he received teachings and transmissions until the age of eighteen, and paid tribute to the immense activity of Künzig Shamar Rinpoche and Jigme Rinpoche. It was they, together with the 17th Karmapa today, who requested him to transmit the Amitabha practice and its empowerment as widely as possible in the West.
Nendo Rinpoche had at heart to be as concise, practical and direct as possible in his teaching so that everyone could understand its profound meaning and connect with it. As everything that appears comes from mind, the starting point is to turn one’s mind inward, rather than letting it be caught by appearances, and thus cultivate the seeds of wisdom that are within us – our Buddha nature. As such, generating bodhicitta, the enlightened mind, is the prerequisite to every practice: wishing that all beings without exception may know happiness and the causes of happiness, and that all beings may be separated from suffering and the causes of suffering. On numerous occasions, Nendo Rinpoche highlighted the need to have a vast, open and supple mind, one of loving kindness. He explained the meaning of visualizations, in particular the importance of familiarizing oneself with the enlightened presence of Buddha Amitabha and the bodhisattvas Chenrezig and Vajrapani, and to train oneself to remain with this presence. This is how to start reducing self-clinging and to receive the qualities and blessings of Buddha Amitabha.
On the afternoon of October 5, Rinpoche transmitted the empowerment of Amitabha, which along with the ritual reading and explanations, are the three essential aspects for bringing any practice to life. He vividly encouraged practitioners to make wishes and to connect themselves as often as possible with the Buddha of Infinite Light and the Pure Land of Dewachen. Thanks to this familiarization, at the time of dying, we will be able to connect with it in a natural way and be reborn in Dewachen. Rinpoche assured that this is within the reach of every practitioner who is motivated by this aspiration.
