Pilgrimage and Wilderness Retreat with Keith Dowman
August 5th – 22nd 2009

Vast steppe wilderness, wild mind, infinite skies, spacious being

Stay right here, lucky people,
Let go and be happy in the natural state.
Leave your complicated life and every day confusion
And in a place of solitude, doing nothing, watch the nature of mind.
— Longchenpa

Join Dzogchen teacher Keith Dowman on this powerful pilgrimage of visionary renewal, expansive insight beneath the spacious blue canopy of the Mongolian sky. Renew your vision by relaxing like an old man basking in the sun, and sit in the saddle of a horse without tampering. Paring Buddhist vision to its quintessential essence is Dowman's great gift, pointing out the innate expansiveness of our own luminous perception. Immersed in the raw wild elements like nomads, the Mongolian steppes provide ideal ambience for element meditation.

Longchenpa, one of Vajrayana Buddhism's greatest mystical poets, savored the precept of "nonaction" like 'an old man basking in the sun.' Come join Keith Dowman on the rolling spacious steppes of Mongolia where the raw elements predominate. Precise and poetic, authentic and elusive, Dowman brings the warm breath of Longchenpa's 14th century tradition into our daily lives while challenging our assumptions. Learn to perceive the natural perfection of all our experience, all our lives, just as it is, without need of any alteration, in a discipline that provides the key not only to our inner enlightenment, but to the health and survival of the planet.

Keith Dowman has spent a lifetime of study and practice of the Dzogchen tradition with the Tibetan masters in exile in India and Tibet, particularly with Dudjom Jigtral Yeshe Dorje and Kanjur Rimpoche Lonchen Yeshe Dorje. His previous translations include The Flight of the Garuda, An Introduction to Dzogchen, and also Sky Dancer, Masters of Mahamudra, The Divine Madman and Longchenpa's Radical Dzogchen. He lives in Kathmandu and teaches Dzogchen seminars and retreats throughout the world.

Join us on this once in a lifetime journey deep into the wild sacred terrain of the earth and mind, to one of the last spacious wildernesses left on the planet. Horses outnumber people 8 to one in a country the size of western Europe with only 2. 5 million people, the largest nomadic civilization left on the earth. Witness the incredible resiliency of the human spirit, with the revitilization of both Buddhism and Shamanism. 70 years of communist rule attempting to eradicate Buddhism from the steppes proved debilitating but not successful. Now urban Mongols struggle with the seductive influx of consumer goods antithetical to a nomadic lifestyle in a capital teeming with growth.

For thousands of years, Mongolian shamans have traditionally retreated in the summer months to the mountains with offerings, to revitalize and become recharged with spirit offered from the terrain and sky. Nomads have worshipped the sky for at least 6000 years, relying on their animal herds for survival. LIke the shamans before us, we will journey deep into the heartland of this country, to taste the raw elements which have supported a profound spiritual view, deeply linked to the environment. We will live as nomads in cozy rustic ghers with nomad neighbors and the deep crystaline Tamir river roaring beside us, with a herd of horses to ride through this varying terrain where forest meets steppe in the Khangai mountains, rich with 3000 year old archeological burial sites. We will discover a deep sense of renewal of spirit and view in the marrow of our bones, being and vision, meeting the living Mongolian tradition along the way.

This pilgrimage begins in Ulaan Baatar, the capital of Mongolia. We will visit key monasteries and join the khandromas of the Narkhajid temple, witnessing the vitality of post Soviet Buddhist revitilization traditions. A shamanic ceremony gives insight into this rich legacy so deeply a part of Mongolian spiritual worldview. We will travel the vast expanse and space of the steppes visiting Erdene Zhu, the largest monastery in Mongolia where Ghengis Khan's descendants ruled the world before continuing our pilgrimage to the Bunkhan valley in Arkhangai, the Buddhist heartland of Mongolia and home to Scythian civilizations 3000 years ago. Bunkhan is a charnel ground of ancient burial remains, kings and queens lay below the soil with their beloved gold adorned steeds marked with stones, and the larch studded sacred Bayondur mountain rests above the camp, with the vital Tamir river curling and roaring beside the yurts. Yoga practice is available and magnificent Mongolian horses- "the dragon herd" are available for long rides through this varied terrain of wilderness between practice sessions along with art, archery and wrestling.

Prerequisite:
A genuine commitment to explore and engage in Dzogchen view and Mongolian nomadic way of life

For more information contact:
carroll@wildearthnepal.com
keithdowman@gmail.com

DAILY ITINERARY:
Day 1 (Aug 4th)
Depart for Ulaan Baatar. Can come overland through Moscow on Trans-Siberian express, but need to book ahead. From US most commonly fly through Korea is reccomended, or through Beijing.

Day2 (Aug 5)
Arrive in Ulaan Bataar. Met at airport and driven one hour beyond the city into the wilderness of Terelej to a ger camp. TERELEJ

Day 3 (Aug 6)
Breakfast Relax if jetlagged or we travel to visit Ganden monastery, the seat of Buddhism in Mongolia. Although Buddhist monastereis were either destroyed or converted into museums during hte Stalinist purges of the 1930s, Ganden Monastery continued to operate as a showpiece for government officials and today is a thrinving monastic center, We travel on to visit the Khandomas of Narkhajid monastery, married Chod practitioners. Chod is a traditional wilderness practice for cutting through fear. After lunch, we travel to a sacred spot near the Tuul River and Bogd Khan mountain for a shamanic ceremony, providing insight into the revilitization of urban shamanism. Back to camp for dinner. TERELEJ

Day 4 (Aug 7)
Depart in the morning for Kharakhorin. Like ships in the esert, we will sail through the vast sea of the steppes to the ancient capitol of Kharakhorin, After breakfast we travel by comfortable AC bus through the sweeping Mongolian grasslands as if a boat on the rolling sea of the steppes, arriving by evening in Kharakhirin, where we will stay at a traditional ger camp. KHARAKHORIN

Day 5 (Aug 8)
We start our day with a visit to Erdene Zhu monastery. The great Ghengis Khan and his son created the beautiful and legendary city of Kharakhirin in the 13th century to serve as the heart of htis monolithic Mongol empire. There are only a few traces lef tof this once great city, but Mongolia's largest monastery, neighboring Erdene Zhu, was reputedly constructed from the ruins of Kharakhorin in the 16th century. Erdene Zhu has been a place of Buddhist activity for more than 500 years. We will explore the monastery grounds and meet with the head lama. We continue driving west, passing the capitol of Arkhangai, Tsetserleg, "the Garden City", before reaching Bunkhan valley. Walking down Princess Pass where once a Princess in a palequin is said to have stopped to enjoy the view, we walk near sunset down to our gers, welcomed by our local nomad staff. Settling into our ghers before supper. LAPIS SKY CAMP

Day 6-12 (Aug 9-15)
Having drunk the deep spaces of the steppes on our journey down, we now settle into Longchenpa's "Old Man Basking in the Sun" teachings and wilderness retreat with Keith Dowman, exploring the precepts of nonaction and wild mind. Wood stoves crackle in our gers, and late at night lone lover nomads can be heard singing on horseback, returnining from a summer visit to a lover up valley. Horses and herds of yak wander by. Morning practice in the Cottonwood forest, optional yoga. Our neighbor Gamboldt's shaggy white yak will pull the cart he usually carries the ger on, carrying supplies for a traditional Mongol Barbeque picnic. One afternoon Tsering Kunchok, a 78 year old Mongol medicinal healer comes to talk and gather and identify medicinal plants. Checking pulses, he examines how the elements flow in each being. Our Mongol grandfather nomad Namkha shares Mongol horse riding wisdom, and horse riding practice occurs in the vast valley of Teel, until one feels the fire in the belly to thunderhoof with ease, fearlessly, like a bird. We can swim in the bracing river or enjoy forest solitude with a mountainpeak in every direction. Nomads beckon for those who wish interaction to learn the 6000 year old nomadic horse arts of steppe survival in this land made so sweet for such a breif time before the northern winds sweep through with bitter cold. Day 12 Keith Dowman gives open teachings translated to nomads and monks who come from Tsetserleg monastery. LAPIS SKY CAMP

Day 13 (Aug 16)
We host a mini Nadam, horse racing, wrestling and rodeo events topped with an evening concert by the river with bonfire, traditional Mongol throat singing and horse fiddle. LAPIS SKY CAMP

Day 14 (Aug 17)
"I ride a stallion,
the foal of a barren mare.
Unborn, all-pervading
Absolute space.
I sit in a saddle without
Meditation, without tampering
Mind occurs naturally.
–Shabkar

(Chassez le natural au revient gallop)
Riding a horse has always been used as a metaphor in Vajrayana Buddhism for how to work skillfully with the mind. We offer an optional horse pilgrimage to the base of sacred Bayondur Mountain offering a different view moving through landscape. Those who prefer can stay at Lapis Sky Camp for furthe rpersonal retreat, practice, painting, mind and body at ease.

Murindo! echoing Ghengis Khan's battle cry for "saddle up"! Enthused by local festivities, to increase our windhorse, called hiimor in Mongolian, lungta in Tibetan, we spend a leisurely day in the saddle, riding through this extraordinary landscape, stopping and visiting nomads along the way. According to Mongol belief a strong windhorse allows one to see with clarity and act decisively--critical skills in a warrior culture as well as in modern life. We set up a tented camp at the base of a mountain venerated by shamans since the time of Ghengis Khan, if not before. BAYONDUR MOUNTAIN BASE CAMP (tents)/ LAPIS SKY CAMP

Day 15 (Aug 18)
The second day of our windhorse pilgrimage to Bayondur for recharge, men traditionally ride up to circule the ovoo (stone cairn) making white (dairy product) offerings to the sky and Mountain spirits, asking for blessings for the horse, the herd, the community, the family, and increase of one's own windhorse vitality. Because women are symbolically conceived as nature- the mountain itself, they rest at ease, at the base of the mountain. BAYONDUR MOUNTAIN BASE CAMP (tents) LAPIS SKY CAMP

Day 16 (Aug 19)
Horseback return to Lapis Sky Camp, Reunion, Keith gives an evening talk on Longchenpa translated into Mongolian for nomad friends. Farewell dinner., traditional singing. LAPIS SKY CAMP

Day 17 (Aug 20)
Drive from camp to Kharakhorin.

Day 18 (Aug 21)
Catch early morning flight from Kharakhorin to Ulaan Baatar. Free afternoon explore city, visit Mongolian artist ateliers. Lunch and dinner on your own. Depart for home on evening flights.

TRIP COST:
US $3000 deposit $500
optional 3 day horse pilgrimage $500

PRICE INCLUDES:
Dzochen retreat teacher Keith Dowman, translator, yoga and resource guide Carroll Dunham, transport in Mongolia, all meals except on 21st, lodging in gers, double occupancy (single occupancy $500 extra supplement) ger retreat living in Bunkhan, horses, horsemen, saddles, airport transfers, museum entrance fees.

PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Airport tax, offerings to lamas, alcohol drinks or tips to the horseman and staff, flights to UB.

CANCELLATION POLICY:
Final payment is due May 1st. In the event of cancellation within 31-70 days prior to departure date, there will be a refund of 50% of the land portion of the trip fee, In the event of cancellation within 40 days prior to the departure date, there will be a refund of 35% of the land portion of the trip fee.

Please click here for further information and registration.