With the last two sessions of retreat this morning, the 2021 International Fall Festival draws to a close. Now is the time to take all these wonderful teachings and meditations into our daily life. As Gen-la said, to go back to our centers and continue our study and practice, but most of all, continue sharing this precious Dharma with our local community by helping with the work of our center.

Yesterday, we received the concluding teaching of the Festival in which Gen-la Dekyong gave an explanation of the fifth basis of the path to liberation, ultimate truth emptiness. In the afternoon, the Festival moved into a different mode as we sat with Gen Rabten to take the precious teachings to heart in the first retreat sessions.

Yesterday Gen-la gave another two extraordinary teachings. In the first she taught how to gain deep familiarity with the practice over many sessions, each time staying longer with the experience of our mind mixed with the bliss and emptiness at the heart of Guru Tara, our destination. And in the second – how to understand the emptiness of the self.