As this photo retrospective reflects, Phakchok Rinpoche’s teachings on August 29 and 30 were marked by many joyous interactions. Rinpoche, who had not visited Dhagpo Kagyu Ling since 2013, taught on the Samadhi Raja Sutra, which he described as one of the most important sutras on meditation taught by the Buddha. Throughout his teaching, Rinpoche repeatedly emphasized the purpose of Dharma practice, namely transformation and realization.
By summarizing key points from ten chapters of the sutra and illustrating them with numerous anecdotes, Phakchok Rinpoche offered practical guidance for bringing about this transformation, both during meditation sessions and in our daily lives. The starting point is to cultivate equanimity, and then to bring into meditation whatever it is within ourselves that we wish to transform. Through this process, we can reconnect with our Buddha nature and progress toward realization, while cultivating loving-kindness and compassion. Rinpoche is also the author of a book on the Samadhi Raja Sutra, entitled In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on the Essence of Meditation (Shambhala Publications, 2020).
During all his teachings, Phakchok Rinpoche placed a gao—a small portable reliquary—before him, containing relics of the master Detchen Chogyur Lingpa (1829–1870), the tertön who founded the lineage of transmission of which he is the holder, and with which he then blessed all the participants.
Dhagpo Kagyu Ling was Phakchok Rinpoche’s only destination in France. He spoke of the deep bonds his family—his father, Chokling Rinpoche, and his grandfather, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche—shared with Künzik Shamarpa and Lama Jigme Rinpoche, who attended the entire teaching, which was so lively, generous, and profound.