Retreats

Date	Retreat	Venue
11^th – 18^th September 2011	Nyungnay Retreat	White House, Cameron Highlands hosted by Dato’ Lee Hau Hian and Datin Teh Li Li
4^th – 11^th July 2012	Nyungnay Retreat	White House, Cameron Highlands hosted by Dato’ Lee Hau Hian and Datin Teh Li Li
18^th – 25^th October 2013	Nyungnay Retreat	White House, Cameron Highlands hosted by Dato’ Lee Hau Hian and Datin Teh Li Li
18^th – 21^st December 2014	Nyungnay Retreat	Happy 8 Homestay hosted by Tan Kai Lek and Jessica Jang
24^th - 27^th January 2016	Nyungnay Retreat	Lim’s Family House hosted by Dr. Tan Chin Yong and Lim Pui San
8^th – 15^th December 2019	Nyungnay Retreat	Happy 8 Homestay hosted by Tan Kai Lek and Jessica Jang

Report on
The Nyung-Nay Practice at Cameron Highlands

(Teachings Given by Lama Norbu Repa)

10th September 2011- 18th September 2011

Experiences at Ipoh-Dzong – A Perspective

This report has been written to share with all a personal view on my experiences at Ipoh-Dzong. Specifically the focus is on the activities between 10th September 2011 and 18th September 2011 when the teachings were conducted by Lama Norbu Repa. It intends to give readers a chance to imagine and experience the magic and the charisma of the moments that are spent so close to the Dharma Teachings.

Arriving at Cameron Highlands:

Dato Lee Hau Hian and Datin Li Li Teh’s car took Lama Norbu Repa and few of the disciples being hosted by See-Foon Chan- Koppen to Cameron Highlands. Everything had been organized in advance by the hosts Dato and Datin and only a few last minute preparations were required. There were a total of 12 persons attending the retreat at Cameron Highlands where we undertook the Nyung Ne Sadhana of Chenrezig. Of these, 3 of the attendees were from the Thrangu Centre at Ipoh. France Choa had come all the way from New York to attend the retreat. Sebastian Tan had made time from his busy schedule and came from Kuala Lumpur to attend as well. Kate Sim and Sujata Lhila were joining from Singapore.

We left from Ipoh at about 10:30a.m., to arrive at the beautiful family home of Dato Hau Hian and Datin LiLi called the White House, at about 12:30 p.m. A sumptuous vegetarian lunch was prepared in advance by the cook and caretakers and promptly served. After lunch everybody unpacked and rested. The family home is a large 2-storey house, with 5 bedrooms, perched atop a hillock. It was a full house. While the rest were resting, Lama Norbu Repa along with Jampal, a monk and the Thrangu Center and four of the disciples went on setting up the Mandala of Chenrezig in the hall, now designated as the temple. By 6 p.m. the puja had been performed by Lama Norbu Repa to convert the temple into the Pureland of Amitabha.

11th September, 2011 to 18th September 2011

The first evening we had a teaching by Lama Norbu Repa. He covered some important points regarding the sojong precepts and about the visualization connected with the sadhana.

The days started early for the Nyung-Nay. While the first day the 1st session started at 6:00a.m., from the second day onwards we started at 5:00 a.m.. Sebastian had undertaken the task of giving the wake-up call at 4:30a.m. Everybody assembled at the temple and Lama arrived soon after. He was performing 3 roles in the Nyung Nay retreat, the Dorje Lopon or Vajracharya, the Umzed or chant leader as well as well the needed Gekod or discipline master to shape our little group quite inexperienced in conducting such intense retreat. Jampal acted as Chopon or shrine master, assisting Lama conducting the ritual. The sessions were about 3 hours long covering a various series of texts such as Lineage Prayers, The praise of Conduct to the 12 Deeds of Lord Buddha, The Confessions to the 35 Buddhas, The Sojong Vows, Long- Life Prayers for the Lineage Holders and Kagyud Lamas and the traditional Monlam and Trashi prayers. There were three sessions in a day. We did three sets of Nyung Nay filling an entire week. On the first day of each set, there was a fourth session when teachings were held. With each passing teaching, there was greater depth.

The sojong vows implie a series of strict observances related to conduct, teaching humility and self- restrain. These observances were reinforced on the second day of each set, with no intake of food or drinks and complete silence during the next 36 hours or so. We had also vowed to talk only when necessary, and even not talk at all on the second day. The sojong implies also to maintain purity of body, speech and mind and dress simply without the use of perfume or jewellery.

The disciples were involved in activities like cleaning the temple after each session, making offerings of flowers and fruits and in helping with the breaking of the fast.

For all the disciples it was a steep learning curve. Day by day, most of us were finding hard to calm down the usual mind agitation, struggling to build up the needed visualizations. However, it improved as the days passed. Some almost gave up the practice on the first set, but with Lama’s encouragement and support from the group everyone was able to face their fears and break through. Most disciples found it hard to keep all the precepts purely, but it was a good start. Each of the disciples learnt from the experience and looked forward to more such retreats.

For me, it was a highly enriching experience. Right from the difficulty of doing the prostrations ( a hundred of them each day, were done in group during the pujas) to the laboriousness of visualizing the deities, it was a learning experience. I improved with every puja and by the last puja my mind was charged that I had strong breakthroughs.

On the third day of each set, We would break the fast at the end of the first session taking with some water and soft porridge. The soft porridge was eated very slowly to feed the beings that are living in the body first. The porridge and the water were served methodically and the utensils removed methodically as well. The Lees had made very good arrangements and Datin LiLi has even cared for packets of nuts to accompany the porridge.

On the first day of each set, Datin LiLi had prepared a special celebratory lunch. We said prayers during every lunch and also long-life prayers for the lineage holders and lamas on the last day of the retreat. On the last session before departing, offerings were made to the Lama and pictures were taken. Lama joined for the lunch with everybody at the table and there was light conversation.

Lama met up with a few of the disciples who wished to have personal counseling sessions. Thus ended our retreat at Cameron Highlands as we packed-up and returned to Ipoh.