Four Dignities – Weekend 2 in Limoges

The Four Dignities programme will take place over two weekends in Limoges: May 26-27 and June 16-17.

For information and registration, please contact Silvia: [email protected] or 06 13 17 78 73 (Limoges website currently out of order).

Four Dignities will also offered by the Paris Shambhala centre with a 4-day programme on May 10-13. See link here.

Four Dignities

The teachings on the Dignities were centrally important to the Vidyadhara, and have been further un-packed and explored by the Sakyong: they now occupy a dominant place on our path. The traditional animal symbols of Tiger, Lion, Garuda and Dragon can be seen painted on farm-houses in Bhutan and the Himalayas. According to our lineage, they also evoke the four energies of Enlightened Mind itself.

Yet the Dignities are never remote or abstract: they are also immediately comprehensible and “in-your-face”. Each Dignity contains an increasingly subtle obstacle, from Arrogance and Doubt to Hope and Fear. Finding and owning each obstacle is a stepping-stone to uncovering the innate wealth of each of  us. And so each Dignity also constitutes a rich and vivid power that we can explore and uncover together as student warriors.

“The four dignities” are introduced both as a path and a process, which describe a warrior’s maturing and widening sphere of benevolent engagement in the world. The training in the dignities allows one to maintain awareness and delight at each stage.

Meek

Meek is a study of the grounded, humble and gentle beginning stages of a warrior’s journey. Here one trains to overcome arrogance – the primary obstacle to learning.

Perky

As the second of the four dignities, this level focuses on cultivating sharp, vibrant and uplifted energy through natural discipline. Overcoming the trap of doubt, the warrior of perky is able to accomplish his or her activities with a sense of nobility and ease.

Outrageaous and inscrutable

These fruitional dignities refer to the extraordinary skill of a practiced warrior. No longer afraid of making mistakes, the unconventional and visionary perspective of the outrageous warrior combines with the skill of spontaneous inscrutability to create benefit for others on a large scale.

Completing Four Dignities is a prerequisite for Warrior Assembly take will take place at Dechen Chöling on July 7-18, 2018. Warrior Assembly is the culmination of the Sacred Path of the Warrior.