Joining the Apprentice Programme

with Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje and Tsal'gyür Wangmo

The atmosphere of the Vajra Family is considered highly important, so every effort is made to ensure that a characteristic spirit, of fierce appreciation and exuberant participation, is maintained and continually renewed. The ethos of enthusiasm is crucial to the evolution of Spacious Passion. Becoming an Apprentice encourages the sense that one's life should be lived in the richest possible way – engaged at the level of optimal fulfillment and impeccable verve.

The Apprentice programme means that you have a relationship with a spiritual teacher who recognises your face immediately, remembers your name, is aware of who you are, and knows about your life and practice. The essential features of Apprenticeship are as old as the era of the Mahasiddhas, the golden age of Buddhist Tantra in India. But in the present day, and in this quite explicit form, it is unique to the Confederate Sanghas of Aro.

Apprenticeship (Gétrug) confers a sense of belonging to a Lineage, the possibility of standing in an unbroken line of transmission. Without this, the practice of Tantra can never be fruitful. Apprenticeship is open-ended and without vows, and this is meant to bring realism and a workable context to genuine Tantric practice in the West. Apprenticeship is one’s personal experiment to discover whether a certain Lineage and a certain teacher could be one’s own. Apprenticeship is an opportunity to try relating to the Lama in the style of Tantra but without obligation. Apprenticeship does not require the traditional relationship with a Vajra-Master (Dorje Lopön). That is a further option signified by ordination in the Lineage.

In Tibet, it was not difficult for committed practitioners to get advice and guidance from Lamas. But in the West it is rare to have a close personal connection with a spiritual teacher. It is often difficult to establish such a bond, when spiritual teachers tend to be busy international travellers. They can become the focus of an ever-increasing number of students, and then pupil-teacher ratios may become extremely high. Sometimes the students themselves may be scattered across several continents, so that they are only able to see the teacher, and each other, quite rarely and briefly, and not necessarily in times of crisis. These factors can make it difficult to taste the real nature of Tantric relationship; a relationship which is considered indispensible for the effective practice of Inner Tantra.

Among the Indian Mahasiddhas and the yogis and yoginis of Tibet, it was the custom to work with small groups of close Apprentices. This was the manner in which Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje and Tsal’gyür Wangmo received their own training, and they feel that the benefits of such a method are so invaluable that it is vital to maintain this as a tradition. Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje & Tsal’gyür Wangmo intend to follow the practice of their Root Teachers, Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, in limiting the maximum number of their personal to about the size of an average extended family. This reflects the number of people that it is realistically possible for a teaching couple to know individually. Many of the well-known Lamas number their students in the thousands.

The Aro Tradition was transmitted in the West out of a desire to explain the Tantric teachings in a way that is accessible to ordinary people. Apprenticeship itself is the very heart of the tradition. It has always seemed possible that there could might be an association of practitioners who could work and celebrate together in a spirit of real kindness and friendship. It ought to be possible to do away with harmful tendencies, such as gossip, ‘dharma’ politics, giving gratuitous advice and gratuitous criticism, forming cliques and ‘inner circles’, elitism, sectarianism, chauvinism, self-righteousness, a style of piety designed to enhance one’s self-image, and other many, many such types of simply dysfunctional interpersonal behaviour. The spirit of apprenticeship is such that it is unnecessary to adopt an ‘artificial Buddhist personality’. In order to be accepted as an equal among the existing Apprentices, it is only necessary to become one. This has happily given rise to a wide range of personalities and styles of expression among apprentices, united by an interest in practice, the teachings, the Lineage; and a kind heart.

How to Apply for Apprenticeship

The full Apprentice Information gives more detail (in English) and an application form. There is a copy available at public events, and the opportunity for an interview to discuss it with Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje. Or one can download it as a pdf-file (1.3 MB)