Post on 15-Mar-2022
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A popular saying in the new age movement is, “Life is a dream” which
is a misquote on an ancient commentary from the Dark Jewel teaching
in Bön’s, “Shen of Illusion” (one of the 9 ways of Bön).
The problem with teachings that have no lineage connection
whatsoever is that you get a lot of useless guru jargon. What the Dark
Jewel addresses is how experience happens with the formation
structure revealed within the 12 links. I know this sounds like a lot but
we are talking about nested teachings on high Tantric sciences here. So
a simple “life is a dream” statement actually prevents many from
realizing enlightenment. They simply think, “I’ve got this”.
Before I attempt to awaken you, let me prepare the ground here a little bit. If your life is a
dream, what are you dreaming? If you had a dream last night that was a summary of your
current life, how would you describe it to a friend? Be honest!
So why is that your dream? What are you thinking? Seriously, why would you dream that? In
Bön we know the answer to that; but do you?
This problem had led to four tools that are directly focused on sorting out this mess quickly:
Dream Yoga
The Deity Practices (effigy work called “Tantra” or “Tantric Practice”)
Mudra Yoga
Dzogchhen
In dream yoga you learn how to control your dreams and you learn methods to start
taking control of them. After a number of months of practice and skill development,
you start to recognize the reality that your waking world and your dreaming world
are really of exactly the same fabric of experience. One is no more real or more
fantasy than the other. This awakens a view that enables you to bring your dream
abilities into the daily world of your “life”. Here, you take the path of going into the
simulated existence of dreams and learning your skills.
The other is the Tantric deity practices (Yidam) where you actually fabricate an effigy form and
transfer your awareness into it. From there you can experience the world around you from
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that particular deity’s view. You start to experience from their sense not yours and thus learn
about the dream like nature of the “solid stuff” around you directly by interacting with it in an
effigy form.
Both are routes to the same experience – that everything is effigy! There is no solid reality
either around you or in you. It is all just constructs given life by a misinterpretation of view; a
view that progressed from the 3 poisons (ignorance, pride and hatred) and then through the
12 links of causality.
A little bit about Bön
Classic Bön is taught through a two category system historically. In the beginning, a student is
introduced to the Bön way in an overview or summary format. The goal here is to awaken past
teachings and empowerments within them and possibly complete their path so that they
simply awaken as fully functioning Bönpo or maybe even a Bönku. The details are:
“Comprehension is found in the 4 portals and one treasury.”
Known as “Gozhi Dzonga”, they are as follows:
Chabkar = “White Waters” - Esoteric and higher Tantric practices
Chabnag - “Black Waters” - Sutra, rites, magic, ordinary formations, the 5 energies.
Phanyul – “Land of Pham” - Codes of conduct and philosophical concepts.
Ponse - “The Lordly Guide” - Dzogchhen
ThoThog = “Treasury” - The essential aspects of the 4 portals. This is given at first in a
“light version” and then again at the end of Bon training.
H.H. Padma Gonpo Rinpoche considers these 4 portals “Red Robe” teachings as they are not as
disruptive to a spectator or new Bön practitioner as invoking a room of elemental spirits and
then commanding them to move things. When working with any wild creature it is important
to consider the safety of all involved, so Red Robe level teachings are generally more “user
friendly” and less dangerous.
The “White Robes” part is more ‘early Bön’ like. These are usually taught and practiced in a
nature setting or older temple kind of location:
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“A seed is built of Nine Wisdoms called YungDrug”
(The nine swastikas of Bon)
The Nine Ways: Thegpa Rimgu'i (The 9 successive stages)
Shen of Prediction – Mo, Astrology, cosmology, ritual, examination of causes.
Shen of the visual world – Nature and origin of the phenomena and entities. Ngöndro
and other foundation practices.
Shen of Illusion – Troma, Lion Faced Dakini and Vajra Kilia. Higher Tantric methods and Magical
process.
Shen of Existence = Bardo Thödol, Rushan, the Samsaric realms, beings and entities.
Virtuous Followers – Guide for Bönpos (ceremonies, practices, mantra recipes and such.)
Ways of Bön Discipline – The Rules of Conduct that bring highest success.
Pure Sound – Higher teachings, ritual, mandala and higher 5 energies teachings, more on
mantra.
Primeval Shen – Matters of practice and behavior. Teaching, progression of practice, building a
gonpa, etc.
DzogChhen = the Crystal Razor of Zhang Zhung.
Once these are completed, a student is eligible to be tested through “observation” and may
take ordination if they haven’t already taken the monk/nun route of ordination.
Actual white and red robes
You may find Rinpoche wearing the white or red robes for these empowerments and
teachings. When you see the difference in the robes, you’ll fully understand why these two
categories are kept separate in today’s “modern perspective”. It really prevents a lot of
unnecessary drama for the students and the center.
Of course, the Rudra always try and have a field day with the “difference in presentation” but
then again, none of these Rudra have ever actually studied Bön under a real Bön teacher. They
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like books, which were written by academics that didn’t study under a Bön teacher either. In
Bön, we can always resolve these kinds of challenges in a wizard war if the Rudra so desires to
present their awe inspiring skills. But they should be warned- white robe combat can leave a
unqualified challenger paralyzed, with ruptured organs or dead. So they should chose wisely
and with a humble view of their “training”.
Bön Altars
Similarly, Rinpoche also has two kinds of altars he uses when teaching and providing open
talks. The Red Robe altar is much like a Nyingma Buddhist altar. It has cast statues, butter
lamps and such. The White Robe Altar uses string effigies, warding guardians and our more
ancient trappings. White altars are also protected with garuda boundary guards and living
guardian statues. Nothing quite like ancient religion to spice things up!
Reaching beyond the rich history
While we do passionately embrace the rich history of Archaic Bön and its development over
the many centuries that it has been on Earth, we also do not lose contact with the initial
knowledge departed to us in the very beginning; literally in the first year of Archaic Bön by
Lord Dagpa himself.
We know this is a lot for new people that are unfamiliar with the society component of Bön, so
let this be the 4000 horse power training wheels introduction to Bön from a Bönku to you.
First, let’s look at where magic is done from. When people think of Tibet they imagine a
country filled with rugged mountains, strong ancient religion and sorcery. Long before the
Buddhists took over that region, Bön was there teaching and healing the people. Our magic is
“effigy based” being that we visualize a form with attributes and then conduct our “magic”
through that form.
How does this all actually work?
First the warning: You need specific training in effigy creation before you begin. Creating an
effigy and trying to embody it without this training and the accompanying empowerments can
be fatal. SO if you haven’t been empowered for effigy by a Bönku, don’t practice this section.
Start with the Mudra Yoga section!
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Ok, now that the warning is out of the way, I will assume you have already been trained in the
basic process. The actual process develops as follows:
1. You start by visualizing the effigy of a known and well documented Yidam (Enlightened
form deity) that was created for that purpose or for a purpose of being utilized in this
practice (examples are enlightened beings that offer their form manifestations to those
seeking enlightenment as a tool.) As you do the visualization, you place a portion of your
awareness into the effigy.
2. Once you can visualize that Yidam either over you like a suit or as you like a regular form
and you have your awareness in it, you work to start to experience from its eyes, nose,
ears … Senses.
3. The stronger this effigy connection gets, the less you have to rely on your “core effigy”
(the body you were born into) and the more attributes you begin to make your own.
4. Once you are fairly successful with building an effigy and experiencing thru it, you may
begin learning how to create other effigies and bringing them into “reality” as solid or
tangible things.
5. This practice of manifesting and creating beings or other objects in this space comes
with its own warnings and methods, but generally the formation is the same.
The simple process is to take one thing, create a copy of it in your mind, place awareness into
it and then begin feeding it energy. When it starts to “feel” heavy, feedback experiences or
interact with its surroundings, then you can consider it ready to move outside the mind and
place into the space.
Things are easier to create than destroy; so consider that should you practice this amazingly
fast method of realizing the dreamscape for what it is.
That is basically the two best options for learning how to break
the delusion that is Samsara.
Generally, peaceful deities are easiest to start with. They
generally are just sitting still and holding their hands in specific
mudra positions. Their eyes are fixed on a specific point and
their ornamentation is less busy.
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Once you have created the visualization of the being wrapping you like a suit of armor, you
breathe your awareness into it (like you learned in captured awareness exercises). You should
begin to feel the weight of the crown, the items in your hands and the weight of the body on
the Lotus throne. You should begin to experience the sounds, smells and actions that are
described in the Puja text through the Yidam’s senses and impressed upon your own. This is
Tantric Practice. Continue to build the connection and intensity of the practice until the “suit
of armor” merges with the “core effigy” (your birth body).
Most wrathful and fierce deities require
empowerments and teachings before you can practice
them. Their forms are more complex and they usually
have a consort that is active as well. Because their
environment is more dynamic, you will have to start
overlaying effigy on the space around you too.
A normal trip to the store becomes a journey across
the burning mountain charnel ground. Flames rise off
of all of the objects in that space. Wisdom garudas fly
over head, everyone is quelled before you! That’s a lot
more difficult than just sitting there and breathing.
It is recommended to learn this in layers. Do simple
first then work towards more complex effigies.
Now, some things to consider:
Nothing is inherently real. You fabricate your experience every moment of your
existence – in human form or another form.
Dreams play the role of letting you “play” with the fluidity of reality. Use them to short
cut the experience of learning.
Where thought goes, energy flows. Only engage in thoughts that bring you big power
not little power. Watch what thoughts steal your energy and resolve to no longer fall for
their traps.
Every moment, you are in some form of effigy. Take control of that and shorten the
enlightenment process by lifetimes.
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Never be afraid to discuss your experiences or questions with a Bönku. They can help
you shorten the learning curve and give unsurpassed valuable teaching on overcoming
obstacles.
The Bönku have overcome Samsara and are Enlightened beings. They are here for you.
Combining the effigy practice and sleep yoga is the fastest way to comprehend the
dream and to emerge from it. But we have more tools in Bön than just this.
Enlightenment can be obtained in between three and eleven years of practice in many
cases. Ask a Bönku about this should you be interested.
Teachings on the Two Illusory Dream Worlds
By Padma Gonpo Rinpoche
Captured awareness purifies pride because when the awareness is in the hands and just
radiating and reabsorbing that becomes the focus and the “I” drops away. Dzogchen purifies
ignorance because when you just release whatever comes up, stuff can emerge right out of
Dharmakaya without forcing one of the links or blades onto the information to interpret it.
When those two are clean the communication between them is Samboghakaya and can go
without disruption (anger).
The three awarenesses are working together. That is experience (total experience);
Samsara is the fluid display experienced through the three awarenesses.
In the Flowering Light Tantra, Tonpa Shenrab refers to the essence of all things in the material
realm as being the result of our karma (Habitual Patterns).
When defiled, the experience is unpleasant. That would mean the essence is illusory. The very
nature of "being" is illusory.
Tonpa Shenrab is describing in many areas of the flowering light, the nature of how the illusion
manifests to us. If you are consumed by pride, then your experience is of paranoia and
jealousy; and you will find proof in the world around you because that is your habitual belief.
The “flower” in the “Flowering Light” is to be found in the movement of our body and the
reactions of our mind and how our senses manifest themselves and the realities we
experience as our truth. The very nature of experience contains essence, presence and
gesture.
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Essence is the illusory nature of everything in this place of being, what in Bön we call the
“world of things”. The Flowering Light teaching says that this experience serves one purpose:
To purify our karma; so we can see it experience it and observe it. This is the function that is
referred to as “Mara” – an enlightened demon that presents opportunities for you to learn
from your habitual behaviors. When you purify the habitual behaviors, you reduce suffering
and gain power. When you indulge those behaviors, you increase trouble and suffering in your
experience.
Consider the normal human desire for wealth. What is the problem with having many
possessions such as land, rank, money, power? You see from a Bön standpoint those things
can be used for good causes as well. I don’t mean you should attach to those possessions. But
they can also bring help to others that may be suffering in this lifetime. As far as famous goes
it may be meaningless and hollow, but only if you let the path stop there (example Richard
Gere who turned all eyes on Buddhism). So in my opinion it’s not what all of you strive for in
this life. It’s what you do with it once you achieve it that will influence your next lifetime and
create the legacy you leave in this space for others.
When greed is dominating your view, there is never enough and you must hoard it all to
yourself or you will not have “enough”. But when generosity dominates your view, the world is
a treasury of wonderful things that cannot be exhausted. This is called “the exhaustless
treasury” in most of the ancient texts.
MUDRA YOGA
Take a book (any book you want) and you will be using it to build a skill, okay?
So you will take your middle finger and point to a word. Just see the word and when you
recognize it, move to the next word.
Keep doing this for a chapter. See .. recognize (don't read)!
Then take a break and do it again. Work on seeing and recognizing faster.
Then, after a week, when you hit the end of a line in the page, go backwards doing the same
thing.
So from the left side of the page, see, recognize; going forward from left to right, then drop
down an line and see and recognize going from right to left. Do that and keep working on your
recognition speed.
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Go ahead and start going through the chapters like this from cover to cover. Push yourself
gently to see how fast you can see and recognize every word in that book. Going from left to
right, dropping down and going right to left
At about 4000 words per minute, you will start to see movie segments. And at some point the
backwards line will snap around and realign and you will get the whole concept stronger than
you could reading it all forward.
Because you don't dwell on any word, you get the whole story!
That is basically "living in the moment"!
You can easily reach 6000 words per minute using this method. We call this the “action
awareness exercise”.
Beyond being a super smart way to study or read, it is also very much what it is like in the
completion stage; the student’s practice stage before entering observation. At that point, they
are in a living dream, and it flows around them. Subtle things still bind them to the waking and
sleeping dream states, but for the most part, as the completion stage progresses, they are less
and less bound to being “of the dream”.
Imagine walking into a room and looking from the left to the right clockwise around the room,
picking out the first objects that jump out at you. Then going back counter clockwise and
seeing and recognizing the objects around them and grouping them to the more foreground
objects. Now you have spy vision - how operatives can remember everything in a room from a
glance.
As you work through completion stage, this ability expands so that you can see lives within
lives. The whole of your collective charts - your full collective cosmology unfolds itself out for
you to see.
And when you do captured awareness (which I recommend slipping somewhere in the break
between) you should try and notice the similarities and differences you experience in this
reading experience and your Captured Awareness mudra yoga.
Those two exercises are called “Ati Yoga” and when done alongside each other can produce an
understanding of what pure observation really does for a student; and it works really fast.
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Captured Awareness is done like this…
The awareness practice is designed to teach you the feeling of the awareness energy. It
literally introduces you to the thing and its nature that "has the experience". Part of the goal
here is to learn how this "awareness energy" builds and what diminishes it (literally steals it
from being collected). The Outer experiences of it are called desire objects. The things that
trick it into grasping at them. It connects to the “Consciousness” (a kind of averaging
processing function in a being’s formation and that consciousness connects to the 6 Sense
Consciousnesses (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, touch and experiencing thought as real).
So, you see, the objective here is to focus our awareness into the one spot that we want it to
be, collect it and build it (the breathing part). This is step one. Then, once we are aware of
what our awareness is doing (literally what we are aware of from an energy perspective), then
we test it by putting it into different conditions and being aware of what changes with it. The
outer stuff, the heightened awareness of "things" and the wild shifts in our understanding, are
all just the byproduct and we take not of them, but do not see them as anything more than
self generated display. Those byproducts lead many away from the path in Buddhism and
other meditation traditions. In Bön we simply cut through it by returning to awareness.
It is the building of this practice that produces the separation of awareness from the desire
objects of 3D space. You are still aware of them, but you are not bound to them. This is the
space of our advanced practitioners - The Naljorpa (wizards) Who are Still in 3D space, but not
bound to it. Free to play and enjoy themselves without the pain that tortures others.
The hand posture (mudra) is a guiding point. Let the hands be comfortable. Gaps won't hurt
things. The only key point is to keep the hands suspended in the air. This will cause some
muscle pain in the beginning (your hands and forearms weigh about 10 pounds, so it's like
lifting weights. You'll get buff :O)
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Interlock the fingers and lay the thumbs side-by-side on top. Take in a breath and imagine that
you are drawing into you the energy from the space around you. As you exhale, think about
pushing this energy to your palms. That's basically it. Sit comfortably, relax and breath into
your hands. It sounds simple, but you'll be amazed at the effects. You can sit on a chair if you
can get your spine fairly straight. Sitting a little forward on the chair (alert, kind of like they tell
you should do when you type), is basically what you would want. Of course, if you're up to a
full Lotus Posture, then good for you. That works too. ;)
The trick is to just draw the energy from around you and to focus it and increase it in the
palms of your hands. Let other stimulus go and just breathe. When you feel the heightened
awareness, that's great; don't dwell on it. It will wax and wane. Just pay attention to what it
"feels like" when you are collected and building in your palms. This is the awareness we begin
to work with.
When you lose it, when your focus is pulled away and your wild awareness starts doing the
monkey mind thing, you will notice it. It's the simplest, most difficult meditation there is. But
once you master it, you are 1/3 the way there! Everything goes back to this foundation skill.
Collecting and building your awareness and then being able to focus it, shape it, create with it.
It is very intense.
So, we call it practice: Sitting practice and daily practice - off the cushion. When we fall out,
we simply get back into the meditation as well as possible and then continue our day. After a
short time, it becomes second nature, and then nature itself. This awareness is the
Nirmanakaya awareness (form awareness).
When you can put yourself in your hands and build until you feel strong awareness and can
hold it for about 30 minutes on the cushion, then stay mostly collected and aware in public
(the really hard one).
Thank you for practicing. Many people get those basic instructions and never begin. I feel that
you will do well with the Bön methods. Just remember that all Bon practice is considered an
"experiment". We try each method in different settings and under different conditions and
observe the results. It is part of mastering the whole time-space thing.
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Oh yes, there is one more thing. We NEVER meditate with our eyes closed. All Bön meditations
(except dream yoga) are done with the eyes relaxed but open. The mind tends to lose track of
the three realms we exist in if the eyes are closed and then wild and illusory experiences arise
that will bring obstacles to practice. Those are actually occurring in the thought consciousness
and not awareness. Amazing fantasies can be formed in that consciousness, but none of them
will give you any real power or progress. When you die, that falls off!
Welcome to Tibet's first tradition known for thousands of years as "the way". It was so widely
practiced that it didn't need a name and it is directly responsible for Tibet's reputation for
magic and mastery.
Enjoy your practice and don't hesitate to ask me anything. You may have heard that I'm
straight forward and tend to answer things directly.
Oh and here is the sitting posture to use with this practice if you can.
Taking this into Dzogchhen
Dzogchhen is basically captured awareness for the non-physical awareness. Where the
previous Mudra Yoga practice was focused on discovery and developing mastery over the
physical awareness, here we are beginning to do the same basic process on the mind itself.
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This is done in three parts:
View, meditation and action are the three keys. For the one who practices these things,
enlightenment opens for that person and then enters the completion stage of their path.
The view:
As to the view, we strike at the heart of view through meditation and conduct. During this
meditation, we do not concern our self with conceptual being, but strike at greater
achievement, this is the way.
First and foremost, let the mind relax into itself (“rong bop” – Tib.): Physically sit in the 7-point
posture (full lotus posture).
Before you begin, make a commitment to sit down completely. This means that your mind and
body are intent on letting go of agendas, expectations, life issues and concerns. This is a time
to surrender to just being seated in the meditation practice.
Sit on a small cushion, folded pillow or Zafu. A cushion on the floor that will raise your hips
about four to six inches from the ground. Make sure that your legs are comfortable and free
from any tightness or restriction due to clothing or physical position. This prevents numbness
and restricted circulation. Employ the 7-point posture with your left foot on the right thigh.
Center your spine by swaying in decreasing arcs side to side. Relax.
As for speech, there is no mantra recitation. Just breathe naturally, comfortably. Mind: let it
fall out on itself. No clinging to thought or following them into dramas. Just sit, let mind rest
quietly. When thoughts arise, destroy them with "Phat!"
This is exactly the same exercise as you did for the speed reading part of the physical
awareness practice only your thoughts are your book. See, recognize and then let the next one
flow in.
Recognize the intrinsic awareness of Dharma Kaya. Wild emotional swings can happen during
the experience, hold to Dharma Kaya. For the day, rest in awareness. As stability, bliss and
illuminated clarity and conceptual awareness arise, destroy them with "PHAT"!
Just sit. Let your mind relax and fall into itself.
Strike at meditation. This is the second point to master.
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Where is the mind? In the west, we think it is in the head. In the east it is thought to be in the
heart. The process of recollection is that which we call mind. Focus upon emptiness of this
process in meditation.
CONDUCT IS MEDITATION IN ACTION.
At that time when you are meditating, all discursive thoughts that arise have no further trace.
They are just recognized as thoughts and then let go.
This must occur both during sitting mediations and in your daily world. In the mere recognition
of the thought, there is release. It is just like drawing on the surface of the water, they just
fade away. Thoughts arise and are liberated immediately in this meditation. Anything that
arises is fuel for the recognition of Dharma Kaya. Whatever stirs the mind is Dharma Kaya.
The difference between meditation and normal mind is in the way that the thoughts are
liberated, or freed. The normal individual responds through attachment and aversion, the
Yogin does not. The yogin releases thoughts the instant they appear.
Anyone not following this approach is on a false path.
It is important to develop the confidence in this process of realizing Dharma Kaya. The
practitioner of this practice is in the Dharma Kaya experience at all times. This is the three
phrases of the root text: View, meditation and conduct.
During completion stage, your physical awareness practice and your Dzogchhen mind practice
merge into one continuous world of see and recognize.
Now to those who think this is boring, consider this:
Your physical and mental experience is amplified by several thousand percent. You are in-
taking, processing and responding to information thousands of times faster than you did in
your normal human mind. Limitations begin to fall away as your realize the nature and
processes that make these dream states operate.
Once you are in this place, you can easily make a simple gesture and space itself will change at
your command.
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If you are interested in learning more about Archaic Bön or how to employ this process
yourself, then you are encouraged to contact Padma Gonpo Rinpoche either on Facebook or
through our Archaic Bön website: www.archaicbon.com or at
padmagonporinpoche@gmail.com
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Why is this a thing?
It has baffled society for millennia that there are some people that need to be “chosen”
instead of taking action on their own. What leads to the idea of a “chosen few” or a “chosen
one” anyway?
Generally in popular fiction, this is portrayed in one of two ways: either the person comes
from a society of people all competing to be chosen or the person or people are chosen
against their will. Which are you?
If you are chosen, you are assumed to be special in some way. You may have special skills, or
special powers. Maybe you have special knowledge? It may be that you hold a valuable
position in a company or industry? Maybe you had a fantastic idea that can change the world.
Or it may just be that you really have no other choice than to either change into your best
version of you or be destroyed and discarded as an invaluable member of society?
Why you are here at this point really doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you are here.
If you are reading this little booklet, then you have already been introduced to our process for
awakening the Triune Awareness. If not, get that now and do it! The things it will bring out in
you are nothing short of miraculous.
As you progress with that practice, you will start to understand what you are being called to
do here; why it is important and what it means to future generations.
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What does “the Chosen” really mean?
When the term “chosen” comes up, it may remind you of way back in school when you were
chosen for a side in some game. Here it means something else. In our meaning of chosen, it
means that thousands of lifetimes have culminated into the conditions of this lifetime for you.
This time holds exactly what you need to reach the completion stage of spiritual development
or maybe even reach pure enlightenment in the next few years!
Now, this does not mean it will be easy. This is the end of a world age. Those times have seen
catastrophic events, massive death counts and brutal wars as the greedy make a grab for what
little is left for them.
In Bön, we always know what is coming and are prepared for it. We have some amazing tools
to enable us to see well into the future and what is heading our way; how it will affect us and
those around us and more.
Things like our Cosmology, our divination tools, our nearly 185,000 years of observing the six
realms of Samsara all have come together to enable us to know how to be in time with
changes in the world and come out on top.
We have learned the cycles of things – the turning of the great wheels and how they produce
conditions that affect all things.
Turnings – the basics of the 80 year lunar cycle
The most apparent cycle is the 80 lunar year cycle. This 80 year cycle baffles people that live
based on the sun cycle calendar because the period doesn’t align to exactly 80 solar years. But
if you are on the lunar calendar, then perfection is obtained in the calculations.
This cycle is called the “lesser turning” and it is comprised of four, 20 year stages. The first
stage is the “Prophets” stage and this is a high time for the world age. It has just thrown off
the repression and chaos of the last world age and is now full of hope and enthusiasm about
the potential ahead. There is still a lot of work to do, but everyone is happy to get involved and
rebuild. This era is marked by creators and people that take action.
The second phase is called “Awakening”. This is a time of developing new social values.
Nomads and travelers abound as a more mobile society spreads the awakening to all corners
of the lands.
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The third phase is called “Unraveling”. In this phase, individualism becomes the focus. People
start to become greedy and turn their view away from the good of the many and focus on how
they will take advantage of conditions to boost their power and wealth. Heroes emerge from
this time and are celebrated. Individualism and self reliance are favored during this time; but
groups of bullies will try to dominate and subdue the population. Slavery can result during this
time.
The fourth phase is “Crisis”. Institutions and societies collapse under their own weight. They
have become bloated and cannot stand under their own ravenous consumption. The public
turns on them and destroys them. Artists will emerge during this time, but generally the
conditions are unpleasant.
There is always a catalyst that causes these “turnings” of the wheels. ALWAYS!
History speeds up significantly in the fourth turning (Crisis). The fourth turning is marked into 4
specific conditions:
1. Resolution. This becomes a necessity. It is unavoidable that some kind of resolution to
the stresses of the time emerges.
2. Climax Crisis. Things build until there is no way for them to continue without a swift
resolution.
3. Regeneration. This is when things start to rearrange into the next turning. They aren’t
solid yet, but the resources and influencers start to emerge that will lead the masses out
of crisis and into a new age.
4. Catalyst. This is the trigger that finally breaks the old ways of existence and opens for
newer ways to emerge and take root.
That is an 80 year cycle for humans. 2008 marked the end of the “third turning” where the
unraveling began. 2028 marks the crisis period which also coincided with the Penno Prophecy.
According to the Penno Prophecy, 2026 marks the formal beginning of the crisis. 2019 through
2025 are mini-episodes that reveal the sub-cycles to expect. That time is called “the shadow of
Penno” which we are already in now.
Consider the crisis cycle as a kind of necessary purification period.
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The Mandala of a World Age
Now that you have met the 80 year cycle, let’s expand on that. There is a grand cycle that is
28,800 years long. This is partly where we derive our 60 year oracle math. There are 480
complete 60 year oracle cycles in the world age. This means that the birth animals and
elements will cycle 480 times in a world age. That will become important in determining the
astrological effects on an individual during any world age precession.
Within that 28,800 year cycle, there is 30 occurrences of a 960 year cycle (of 80 years x 12
animals). This means that an animal in the Bön cosmology will rule over the 80 year cycle for
each cycle in a 80 year span. In new age speech, it may sound like “Dragon with water ox
rising” which would mean that the 80 year animal would be a dragon and the individual year is
a water ox. The nature of that animal would color the interactions and influences of that 80
year span.
To make this even more confusing, since there are 30 cycles of 960 years in a world age, then
there will have to be double world ages before a whole 60 year oracle can complete. This
theme continues out until all of the Bön cosmology patterns are fulfilled.
With 12 turnings in an 80 year span, that means that one animal will rule under that 960 year
animal’s reign for exactly 6.66 years per animal. This 666 number is known for bad things, but
it basically means that when the 28,800 year cycle, the 960 year cycle, the 480 year cycle and
the 80 year cycle are all at the crisis stage of the turning of the great wheels, then a total world
age turning must occur. That is where Penno comes in.
How big is this Really?
Much smaller word age turnings have totally lost all records of human history. Entire
developed civilizations just fell to dust as they fought for survival in a post crisis world. Imagine
that magnitudes stronger at the end of all the turnings together. It is a great time for
completely starting over.
You cannot stop this from happening, but you can be prepared for it to come. Simple physical
preparations like healthy diet and exercise to maintain your strength and stamina can be a
huge factor in helping you sail through these crisis points. Having food and water stored or the
ability to create your own supplies of such critical items will determine how you fare in this.
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Buying tons of weapons won’t help you here. If you starve to death, you won’t need the guns
and besides, how many rounds of ammo can you keep with you? You won’t be able to buy
more during the crisis, and honestly the most powerful people will be using wave weapons
anyway. Your bullets can’t travel far enough to even reach them.
The Dream during a world age
This guide is meant for people that have already acquired and have begun practicing the
methods in the “Into the Dream” booklet. If you are practicing that process, you will be miles
ahead.
Basically there are a couple of kinds of dreamers during the stages of a world age. But
regardless of which world age segment you are in, there are only four kinds of actual dream
focuses that exist:
1. Common minds. These people are caught up in dreaming (waking and sleeping dream
states) and are swept along into the conditions of birth, suffering, sickness, old age and
death; the rebirth and a rinse and repeat cyclic turning of their experiences for
seemingly forever.
2. Partially awakened. These in Bön are called “Naljorpa”. They are our wizards and
sorcerers. They are living in the dream, but are not so much of it. They know how to
take the dream and change it. This is obtained by the practices in the “Into the Dream”
document and through tantric empowerments from a Bönku. They are in the
completion stage of development and have chosen to remain in that stage for as long as
they can for now.
3. Compassionately awakened. These are the Shen of Bön – Our priests. They have come
far enough to know that it is all a dream and understand much of how it works. They are
also in the completion stage process and are really wonderful practitioners. But they are
not ready yet to go “all the way to enlightenment”.
4. Bönku – the fully awakened state. These beings have made the final sacrifice to ensure
that Bön continues to be available to anyone seeking it. They completed “Observation”,
remade an Avatar and spend the rest of their time focused on helping beings reach
enlightenment.
Every phase in a world age either supports the Bönku’s efforts or hinders it. Generally the
pressures placed on the student are where the hindrance comes from.
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Now as for how this all works, most people that have had any exposure to Astrology of any
kind know that there are certain birth years that make great spouses and certain birth year
combinations that make horrible relationships. In Bön, we use 12 animals and 5 elements to
denote the nature of an animal. So, things like “Wood Rabbit” would represent a specific birth
year. The rabbit gets along with certain other animals and doesn’t with others. Wood gets
along with other elements and is in conflict with another element. When the combination
creates a conflicting energetic relationship, generally difficult conditions emerge. The
magnitude of the difficulty will be proportionate to the conflicting animals and elements. I
won’t dive too deep into any of the details of this in this guide. If you are interested in
understanding this science, consider taking the Cosmology Certification course that Bönku
offers.
The Sacred Numbers & how they play into this
The “sacred numbers” that show up here are pretty interesting in themselves. Let’s spend a
moment or two looking at those.
28,800 years for a world age. In numerology, we add digits to see what the base digit is. The
idea is that the numbers 1 through 9 are the only “real numbers” and commas, periods and
such don’t count. So 28,800 = 2 + 8 + 8 which equals 18 and an eight and one added together
equals 9. Nine is a completion number in western Astrology, but in Bön, it is a “mewa” or
magic square which shows the map of nine “dominions”, their directional placement, relative
influences and a lot more. They are like those square data stamps found on inventory tags –
they expand into a massive database full of details.
Next we have the 960 year cycle. 9 + 6 = 15 = 6. Six is the number of man in numerology. Six is
also a sub-harmonic of 9.
30 is how many 960 year cycles is in the world age. 30 is simply read as 3. Three is the seed of
the harmonic relationship for 3-6-9 which is regarded in resonance sciences as the sacred ratio
of creation and destruction. It basically is the thirds, sixths and ninths of any frequency. This is
covered in our Astra sciences, but let us suffice to say that if you understand this ratio and
how to use it, you will find very few limitations in your powers.
80 is the smallest of a complete turning cycle (80 years) which is simply 8 and this is a stable
number.
12 animals also reduces to a three (1+2 = 3).
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480 is the number of 60 year cycles in the 28,800 year bigger span and 480 = 4+8 = 12 = 3
when reduced.
60 = 6 (the number of man) and the six mewa. The 60 is the result of 12 animals in astrology
with each animal having 5 elements so rabbit has five kinds of rabbit: wood, fire, earth, metal,
water. This is true for all 12 animals making a zodiac of 60 years for a complete animal cycle.
There are a total of 360 of the 80 year turnings in a world age or 1 degree in a 360 degree
circle (clock or wheel) to each 80 year turning. 3 + 6 also = 9 showing the perfect completion of
80 year cycles (when it = 9, it is considered a compete turning). Then the cycle starts back at 1
again.
This is how Penno was calculated. All of the crisis turning periods aligned with all the conflict
periods in all the animals and elements. As you can see, these conditions don’t happen very
often; at least not to this severity.
Back to the “Chosen”
All of that number work is there for those of you that like the details and want to contemplate
the wondrous wisdom behind the turning of the great wheels. For the rest of you, it is my
sincere hope that you have at least seen that this is not some willy-nilly pseudo science
dreamed up from a bad drug trip or some goofy new age “channeling session”. This is
information given us by a God by the name “Lord Dagpa” from the Sridpa gods realm and he
actually manifested here on earth 184,000 years ago (give or take 1000 years). He taught us
the language of the Sridpa Gods realm, Dakini language, the elemental sciences and core
practices that reveal the nature of the “dream”. He also gifted us with Cosmology and words
of power and that included what became a doctrine on mantra formulation.
This is a grand legacy! We have maintained an unbroken lineage of Bönku for the whole span
since Lord Dagpa first instructed a human. We have intact teachings, complete wisdom and
uncorrupted practices and that is something that no other religion can honestly say.
You have found us. You have been introduced to our most powerful and rarest teachings and
hopefully are practicing their methods now. You are chosen – by the time and by the birth
conditions you came in with. You stand in the face of your destiny.
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With the training we are offering you, you will be able to survive and thrive in the worst of
conditions during this end of the world age. You will have the power and ability to help others
survive too. Once the crisis is done, you will be a pivotal part of the recovery and development
of the next 28,800 year world age and you will give many world age civilizations a solid start.
Now you have to choose. How strongly will you practice? How involved in this will you
become? Will you help us build the new world for others? Are you ready? The choice is simple:
Yes or No.
Why have you found this now?
You found this now because this is the time! Everything your past lives have been trying to
teach you culminates now. You can complete your skills and training and ripen your previous
teachings and empowerments now. This is your time. You still have some time to study and
solidify your new skills. This document was written in 2021 and the real super-crisis doesn’t
start to show its face until 2026. It will last roughly until 2046 but should be well in hand by
2030 if we have enough people who are skillfully managing the dream.
Opportunity in the Dream During the Final Turning
Bönku gets really excited when he teaches on this. Imagine a clean slate with unlimited
potential! That is what the final turning offers. There won’t even be a glimmer of the former
corrupted society left over by the end of this grand turning.
Sure, there will be a lot of work to do, but it is though helping in the recovery that people take
ownership of the new social conditions. New or reintroduced technologies will bond people
together unlike anything in recent history. Balance between nature and society will be the
outcome during the first phase of the next turning. We should be able to preserve all of the
Bön sciences and employ them in the recovery efforts. Imagine a society of spiritual people
that are not tossed about by hope and fear; greed, hatred and desire - People able to open up
to each other and engage in mutually enjoyable activities.
It is not as far off as you think.
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It’s All a Dream
As you progress along in the “Into the Dream” document, you will reach a point of limitation.
At that point you will need more teachings and some empowerments. You will need to start to
properly practice the effigy process and then bind that into the Triune Awareness.
This process is extremely rewarding as you will really start to work with a lot of different kinds
of beings. Gods, demons, demi gods, hungry ghosts, animals and humans will all want your
help and friendship. Your day becomes a wondrous place where magic is a constant.
You will go through “dream yoga” where you learn how to continue your practice even when
you are asleep! For some, that will naturally develop, but it never hurts to have extra tools.
Dream Leaders
Bönku’s goal is to have 7,500 dream leaders by 2024. These are from your ranks. People that
have put the effort and passion into practice and have obtained the fruits of your practice. He
will be teaching those chosen for the Dream Leadership how to truly make a huge impact on
mankind in the coming years. You will learn sciences, medicine, magic beyond your wildest
dreams and start to become part of the living Bön Lineage of master sorcerer, and for those of
you who are ready – enlightened masters (Bönku yourselves).
If you are interested in becoming a Dream Leader, Contact Bönku directly or through Starbuck
Jones. Dream Leadership is a monthly membership program and it has fees attached to pay for
resources that are necessary to bring things to completion. Membership fees will be focused
on our labs, Lhakang (facility) and the equipment that we need for 2026. Inside the Dream
Leaders program, you will learn more about what exactly we are building and what our 2030
world is to look like.
Let us just end with the statement, “It’s going to be amazing”!
I have included a copy of the Bön Penno prophecy for your enjoyment.
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The “Penno Prophecy”
From the Bön lineage teachings
Em ah ho pen-no pen-no so-ha!
Currently (the year of the Female Metal Ox 2148: Modern calendar 2021) there is much
circulating around the Internet about a “Buddhist prophecy” called “The Light That Makes
Things Clear: A Prophecy of Things to Come, was revealed by the late 'Jambyangs mKhyen-
brtse Chos-kyi bLo-gros’ (1896-1959), widely known and celebrated as the "Master of
Masters."
Now, first of all, this prophecy is much older than claimed and it was “shared” by this Buddhist
master not authored by him. He however recounted the basic details fairly well.
Buddhists have a tendency to mirror their Christian counterparts in the “fear fills seats and
gets donations” kind of mentality so the Buddhist version promotes running around and
sharing this with everyone – if they want it or not.
In Bön we take the, If they want it or when they want it approach. We don’t like to rub
someone’s face in our religion.
It should be “freely reproduced” as in if someone wants to know it, it should be given without
the usual requirements of empowerment, secret teachings or any of that. Just hand them the
copy and answer any questions that you actually know the answer when asked or send them
to a Bönku for more information.
The events of this prophecy are mainly concerning events commencing 2026, and lasting
through 2032, although there is a part of the prophecy that is called “The Shadow of Penno”
which covers the 9 lunar months before the prophecy’s shadow arrives, the 6 years before
2026 and how the “Men of Ill Intent” position the world for these Prophetic conditions to
manifest.
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I will do my best to present this prophecy as accurately as possible.
The Prophecy of Penno – lineage tales from Bön
Related this teaching, the knowledge given here are applicable to a time when the evil period
would arise. It is like a path because all sentient beings are connected to it. It is evil because it
will be the most cruel of purifications (worse than is deserved), driven by Men of Ill Intent and
their goals. The Three Poisons are at the root of their motivations and these men of ill intent
are worshipers of suffering, theft and enslavement. These are the results of lifetimes of
defilement and encouragement by those around them to cultivate these bad habits.
It is said that when a person cultivates evil as their path, it is the responsibility of all whom
come into contact with them to aid in their purification. To cut it at the root and to encourage
a turn to good habits (ones that produce positive outcomes for the person and those around
them). It is encouraged to invite them into a community that can give them a sense of
belonging – to cure the development of selfishness and the thirst for domination. To provide
them with good role models to aid in their moral development. These men shun such
opportunities and develop cruelty and domination in their hearts.
This problem has always been experienced in the Human realm. In times of great
development, humans have been active in the management of these people. In times of the
worst suffering in human time, these men have been allowed not only to practice their
destructive desires, but were even encouraged by those in their society to see how far they
can grow this evil habitual pattern. While “good people” did nothing.
The result is a kind of cumulative purification set of conditions. Everyone that allowed these
conditions to develop – the Men of Ill Intent, the population that they tower over, the animals,
the elemental spirits, the gods, demigods, hungry ghosts, demons and hell realm inhabitants –
All will suffer intense purification as a result.
Beginning 9 lunar cycles before the Shadow of Penno arrives (around August 2019) a group of
students will form and receive teachings that may temper the effects of Penno. Their
purification will be during “the Shadow of Penno” in which they will either succeed or fail to
avert the full influence of this prophecy.
This is the time of the preparation of the world for the coming of the third brother of Bön.
Leading up to the beginning, there will be signs from all God based religions that their end
times has begun. Fish will fall from the sky, as will apples and grain. Weather will become
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violent and be influenced by the men of ill intent through their alchemist actions. The general
health of the people will be weakened by poisons and curses in their food, medicine, water
and air.
All connections to any system of truth will be broken and condemned if not made punishable
to peruse. The trusted leaders will speak only lies and will celebrate the destruction of life,
freedoms and the family.
Indulging in every manner of sense pleasure will dominate and spiritual practice will become
all but lost to the majority of beings. Sex and greed will stimulate the selfishness of man and
the ability to reason with them will become quite difficult.
Resources for temples, centers, schools and places of application (labs) will become difficult to
obtain if not completely unavailable.
During this time, the wealth gods will be critical to aid the Sanghas of Bön in their preparation
for the arrival of Penno. Astra technologies will be required to be taught and the students that
receive them must meet the criteria given with the gift.
Note on Astra technology:
The Astra was a race of non-human (humanoid) beings that were on Earth until around 9,000
years ago. They had a science that uses resonance to accomplish legendary things. This was
gifted to the enlightened Bön kings to preserve on earth and employ during times of extreme
danger to the earth population. With the gift came criteria for selecting those to receive it.
Now back to the prophecy …
In the year of the Male Earth Rat (2008) people from the world of man will gather amongst a
country of great repression (China) and marking this gathering the sea will bleed (turn red) and
the legendary giant Tortoise will be seen by many. This Rat year will begin the final days of
happiness and the descent toward the arrival of Penno when Earth turns to metal and the Rat
reawakens.
During this time, there will be many actions by the Bönku to awaken the people. This is the
first clear signs of the arising of the prophecy. May those who are ready be swift in
abandoning selfishness, greed, pride and hatred and may their efforts bring great results!
Upon the first days of the Metal Rat Year (2020) there will be great sickness brought on by the
actions of the Men of Ill Intent. This will be used to further their plans for the total domination
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of mankind and the entrapment of the gods. First there will be plague carried upon the winds.
This represents the transgressions of man by defiled speech (both internal talk and external
words). The Men of Ill Intent will believe it to be a victory for them and will then employ
aggressive force to change the habits of the people.
Human bodies will be violated with curses directly placed within them. Many will willingly
accept these curses and proclaim their evil source as the new gods. The awakened ones will
purge this evil upon receiving it. Those who embrace this curse will befall terrible suffering
when Penno arrives as the curse is but the beginning of a 100 syllable curse that will consume
their ability to intake nourishment (it will cause digestive failure when the second curse is
given). The 5 organs (heart, kidneys, liver, spleen and pancreas) will bleed from within and
death will arise for these people.
The body cavity (temple of organs) resonates to the sounds of the voice. As such, mantra is the
best method to ward off any vulnerability to such curses. Of the many Bön mantra, it is
suggested to practice the Penno mantra of Dharmakaya forms, worn on the appropriate arm
for male or female; The mantra of Vajrakilaya the protector and the purification mantra of
Vajrasattva. Additionally, if you have been given the permission by a Bönku (enlightened one)
you may practice their mantra that brings enlightenment to all (this is the last mantra in the
Mantra Medical Kit).
During the time of the shadow of Penno, teachings of the Spiritually Awakened Ones (Bönku)
will be on the decline and monks' ethics and general conduct will become corrupted. When
evil thoughts will occupy the mind, and food supplies will be contaminated. A time when the
ten unwholesome deeds will be practiced and practitioners of advanced spiritual techniques
will recite only evil mantras, and the five poisons will overwhelm one's perceptions. It will be a
time when body and speech acts will be perverted; teaching of spiritual values will deteriorate.
A time when feathers will grow on mountains, and a person will travel about in metal vehicles.
All of one's actions will merely contribute to evil happenings, a time of fearfulness when evil
will manifest most definitely. This text will reverse the contributory evil causes of this time. By
so much as seeing it, writing of it, proclaiming it, there is no doubt that these evil times will
end. It is sufficient to see what is true and what is not true. And to say what one knows to be
the truth. In those people who say it is untrue, from the tops of their heads to the bottom of
their feet, signs that they will be seized by sickness will appear."
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As Penno arrives (2026):
First, because of the ten impure practices, sentient beings will come under the power of
conflicting emotions. Oh, pity on these sentient beings! Second, an area (valley) in the human
realm will be (as if) filled with blood. Third, when it comes to reaping your own merits you will
be powerless to do so. Fourth, human suffering will become very great. Fifth, people won't be
able to perceive the "path." Sixth, cities will become filled with carnivorous animals. Seventh,
the residences of politicians will become deserted. Eighth, individuals will be unable to cope
with one another. Ninth, hungry ghosts will be seen wandering about the cities. These are
both humans foraging for survival and actual hungry ghosts as the Human realm has passed
through the animal realm and into the realm of hungry ghosts.
Things will be like this as a result of ten impure practices. One will not compliment or praise
another person; there will only be praise of oneself and putting down others. There will
basically be four social groups: the politicians, the rich, common people, and the well-
educated. If all of these peoples have confidence in the Bön path and devotion toward it, a
good time period will result.
"But if people have an irrational trust in it, they will follow one another and fall straight into
the most intolerable of hells. The earth and heavens will be filled with the cries of those who
have not heard this teaching. A time of epidemics will result. But as soon as one hears this
message and then writes it down and distributes it, these epidemics will be brought under
control. All famine that might exist will be pacified and people will achieve a good existence.
Furthermore, there are seven miseries that humans might suffer. First there is the misery like
that of a denizen in hell. Second, the misery of hunger and thirst for a hungry ghost. Third, the
misery of disputes and warfare as an anti-god might experience. Fourth, the frustration
resulting from having no leisure, and constant hunger and want. Fifth, the misery of having
erroneous views. Sixth, the misery of having a long life like a god, and seventh, the misery in
potential existence when in the after-death state.
This teaching is of benefit for these (situations), for if one trusts in it, one will achieve success
in all that one may strive for. All diseases will be destroyed, and there will be a return to good
times. If one is to ask how these will come about [it is like this]:
Out of deep space, in the Fire-Male-Horse year (2026), a large meteor will strike down on the
shores of a large body of water. This spiritual text will appear when the meteor cracks open.
Having appeared, it is very important, when teaching this document, that there are no secret
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or hidden meanings. There is but one, no secondary meaning. It has been put together for the
benefit of all sentient beings. May all the torments of existence end!
In the Earth-Male-Monkey year (2028) an epidemic will occur and its impact will be very
profound. If all sentient beings do not think that this is true and have no confidence in this
teaching and are not able to propagate it, then the dark evil forces of spiritual death will be
satisfied.
If there is confidence and they do spread this knowledge, then great well-being will arise.
Great benefit will come from foreknowing of these conditions.
It is said that in 2028, the epidemic will be marked by blood coming from the eyes of humans.
In the autumn of the Fire-Female-Horse year (2026), and in the year of the Earth-Male-
Monkey (2028), all of those evil persons who have no confidence in true teaching will die. But,
if one does undertake the study of truth on the path – the Way (Bön), then one will live for a
long time, without sickness, and merit will become very great. The Heruka will once again arise
for the protection of “The Way – Bön” and through their presence many deaths will be
averted.
All the harmful forces of this evil time will quickly gather in the cities. They will run and hide
themselves (quarantine) so that humans will not be able to see where they are. At that time,
the power of the path will scatter those noxious demons and they will run away. So it is
important to practice and ensure qualified teachers reach all areas. One should not entertain
any doubts and think that it is not true.
Those persons who do not have any confidence in true teachings will experience a great
earthquake in the year of the Fire-Horse (2026). When the evil times come in the Fire-Female-
Sheep year (2027), there will be death due to overcrowding. Some will die on the road; some
from heart (disease). In the year of the Earth-Male-Monkey (2028), there will be terrible
floods. In the summer, death will come from famine-induced epidemics. At that time, demons
will be all over the place. If one masters the fierce practices and the two purification methods
(Chinrezig and Vajrasattva), there will be no harm from obstructions or demons.
In the Earth-Female-Bird year (2029), there will be no harm. Nonetheless, it will be very
important to guard one's discipline and not eat red meat (that year there are poisons in the
meat). In the Iron-Male-Dog year (2030), all cities and surrounding areas will be filled with
carnivorous animals such as tigers, bears, wild dogs, wolves, and the like. At that time it will be
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very important to engage in the Bön path because it grants command over all realms. In the
Iron-Female-Pig year (2031), all sentient beings will lose self- control, and will be like paper
blown about in the wind, or as if carried off in a flood. Then, those who lack the path will die."
During the year of the Mouse (2032), a sound with spiritual qualities will be heard coming out
of the depths of space. And, like the light of the sun and moon, because of the strength in the
sustaining power of the Enlightened ones, if one Devotes themselves to intense practice, it will
illuminate all of the four directions and eight points in between, then it will be of benefit and
obtain merit like a mountain (in size). In the palace at Potala (Lhasa Tibet), a transformative
form of the Enlightened ones communication dwells, surrounded by a retinue of those in
whom pure and total mind has taken over.
All sentient beings, above and below, in all the ten directions, are placed in well-being. By
thinking that this is untrue, or if one entertains doubts, a period of plagues will become
widespread in the middle of summer. People will die from dawn to dusk. At that time,
calculating from when the evil period of time increases, all the forest (ecosystems) will
collapse. All the rocky mountains will crumble at their bases. One will not be able to bear the
leveling (process) of the earth's (mountains). For every ten persons, only one will be left.
In the Fire-Female-Sheep year (2027), and in the Earth-Male-Monkey year (2028), the evil "five
hundred time" will emerge. This disruption will come from every direction and the eight
subdivisions as well (worldwide). People will be defiled by quarrels and restlessness.
Bön’s role during this time is to open the people’s eyes to the truth of what is happening and
why. To do that, it must reemerge in the view space of many. May beings be free of all terror
and fear!
This spiritual work which has one, no secondary meaning, has been composed for the benefit
of all sentient beings. This spiritual text will spread fully to all realms and all humans will be
happy. May virtuous sentient beings be free of misery!
If one is not energetic in making these teachings an object of sustained attention for five or six
months (you get distracted and forget to practice), then a period of sickness and diseases will
come. Some will die from fever; some from chills; some from stomach ailments; some from
madness; some from skin diseases. Some from heart disease, others from liver disease. There
is a remedy for these harms. When impermanence begins to show its mark in the body, if men
and women wear this mantra, which will protect them, this protecting mantra will free them
from all plagues and the harms of demons, water spirits, and gods.
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Em ah ho pen-no pen-no so-ha!
It should be worn on the right side of the body for a man and on the left for a woman.
If one does this, one will be freed from these diseases and plagues, and will have a good life.
The Buddhist form of this prophecy sounds like a chain letter; encouraging you to spread fear
among as many people as you can. But in the Bön version, it focuses on preparation, growth of
the reach of Bön and the bringing of aid to as many suffering beings as possible.
Within the Astra technologies is a very advanced healing science. If we are successful in getting
this science built in time and staged in places where it can have the greatest effect, then many
of these deaths, much of this suffering can be eliminated. This is the goal of Padma Gonpo
Rinpoche during this time of the Shadow of Penno.
If you are reading this, then you have heard the call and are given the opportunity to help us in
this coming massive crisis and its many disasters.
Contact Padma Gonpo Rinpoche if you should wish to become involved.
Face book- H.H. Padma Gonpo
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Be Mindful of Speech
As stated by oral tradition of Bön, false speech has ten retributions:
The first is that the breath always smells bad.
The second is that the good spirits depart far from him while the non-humans get their way
with him.
The third is that although he may have instances in which he speaks the truth, people
nonetheless do not believe or accept it.
The fourth is that he can never take part in discussions with those who are wise.
The fifth is that he is always slandered and his ugly and foul reputation is heard throughout the
land.
The sixth is that he is not respected by others. Although he may issue instructions and orders,
people do not accept or follow them.
The seventh is that he is always afflicted with much worry.
The eighth is that he plants the karmic causes and conditions for being slandered.
The ninth is that when his body deteriorates and his life comes to an end he will fall into the
hells.
The tenth is that if he emerges and becomes a person, he is always slandered.
If one does not engage in actions as these this qualifies as not committing false speech. This is
what is meant by the moral regulation regarding goodness associated with the mouth.
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Students Trying to Teach
When trying to help others learn Bön or about their Karma:
As a student, you can help them intensify it or see where it can lead to and not much more.
When you try to play the role of the spiritual teacher you fall into a bad set of conditions. So
just helping them see a student's view is the best route.
That way you can help them, remain humble and if they need real teachings they can go to a
teacher to get them. But teachers are not a Walmart shopping experience; not a quick stop for
milk. I deal in honey, pain and shovels. Between a Bönku and Mara, we will swiftly strip away
your bad karmic habits and place you in front of better options.
When someone asks you to explain something, you can answer as a student with this simple
rule in mind. If you were telling a story about your journey from somewhere to somewhere
(like a vacation), you wouldn’t describe the car’s mechanical workings, the road’s granular
details or such. You would describe the feelings and events that you experience. That is the
best way to share Bön with others. Don’t answer question about a yoga (practice) or deities,
because that takes you into that area where you could accidentally try and teach.
When students teach, they acquire curses from a wide range of entities including the Dharma
Protectors. You don’t want that!
If someone has questions of the teaching
nature always refer them to a Bönku.
Bönkus know how to properly plant seeds
into students so that their empowerments
and teachings will ripen in the most efficient
manner.
You can help your Bönku by sharing the
experiences you have had and the changes
that have happened for you since you
started in Bön.
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People love to hear how you have transformed under ancient teachings or an ancient doctrine.
The Bön’s high yogas have three sections:
1) To Have a Decisive Understanding About the True Nature,
2) The Introduction to the Fundamental Character, and
3) Training on the Path of Suchness.
1) To Have a Decisive Understanding About the True Nature
-- Triune Awareness has no causes.
-- Triune Awareness has no conditions.
-- Triune Awareness has no methods.
-- Triune Awareness has no path.
-- Triune Awareness has no result.
(i.e. Like: The mind is empty of inherent existence. That is the affirmation
of emptiness.)
2) The Introduction to the Fundamental Character
-- " Triune Awareness has no causes," and yet faith and devotion are the causes of
Triune Awareness.
-- " Triune Awareness has no conditions," and yet genuine gurus are the conditions
for overcoming Self arising display and maturing the Triune Awareness.
-- “Triune Awareness has no methods," and yet uncontrived mind is the method of
Triune Awareness.
-- Triune Awareness has no path," and yet undistracted mind is the path of Triune Awareness.
-- " Triune Awareness has no result," and yet the mind liberated into dharmata is the result of
Triune Awareness.
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(i.e. Like: But, still, the mind has the capacity to experience, be conditioned and
deconditioned. That is the affirmation of dependent origination. Those two aspects, emptiness
and clarity are complementary, inseparable. That is the view of the Bön Way.)
3) Training on the Path of Triune Awareness
-- As the preliminary practice, conduct the yogas outlined in the “Into the Dream” training with
faith, devotion, and respect, three times during the day and three times at night.
-- As the main practice, rest within the state of uncontrived mind with undistracted
recognition (Samatha); which is the result of the practices outline in the initial yogas. This
brings out the Triune Awareness
-- As the conclusion, recognize whatever appears as your own mind and train your awareness
with skill (i.e. Insight).
-- Relying upon the sequential arising of experiences, exert yourself in meditation until
conceptual mind is exhausted (literally no longer has energy enough to arise and interfere with
the Triune Awareness).
There are two ways in which experiences arise: as unfavorable experiences and as favorable
experiences.
-- As for the first: All unfavorable experiences - whatever they are, such as dullness, agitation,
illness, fear, fright, or doubt - arise from your meditation. Therefore, recognize them to be
experiences. Without abandoning them, meditate, taking those very things as the object of
your view and meditation and push them into your hands during the Captured Awareness part
of your mudra yoga practice.
-- As for favorable experiences:
------ First, the experience of the mind’s abiding arises.
------ Based on that, the experience of the essence, emptiness, arises.
------ Based upon that, the experience of attaining realization arises.
------ Based upon that, the experience of turning away from attachment arises.
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With that sequential arising of experiences, you should exert yourself in practice without
any complacency.
---- The mind’s merely abiding at first is not sufficient - you must meditate in order to see the
essence.
---- Merely seeing the essence is not sufficient - you must meditate in order to attain
realization.
---- Merely attaining realization is not sufficient - you must meditate in order to turn away
from attachment.
---- Merely turning away from attachment is not sufficient - you must meditate so that,
through the liberation of conceptual mind into dharmata, conceptual mind is exhausted,
phenomena are exhausted, and you awaken to the dream nature of what you call “reality”.
The Ten Karmic Punishments Arising from Sexual Misconduct
When many new students come to Bön, they come with strong sexual habits. These may range
from basic lust to burning craving for sex. This is the teaching on such an affliction according to
Bön’s oral tradition:
Sexual misconduct is a calamity analogous to a venomous snake or a great fire which, should
one fail to immediately avoid it, entails the encroachment of disastrous harm. As stated by the
oral tradition, sexual misconduct has ten punishments:
The first is that the husband of one's sexual conquest is constantly bent on destroying him.
The second is that the husband and wife are not harmonious and are constantly engaged in
mutual strife.
The third is that bad dharmas proliferate (bad karmic habits) with each passing day while good
dharmas (karmic habits) diminish with each passing day.
The fourth is that one does not see to the protection of one's own body while also widowing
and orphaning one's wife and children.
The fifth is that one's wealth and business deteriorate daily.
The sixth is that there are all manner of unfortunate situations and one is constantly doubted
by others.
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The seventh is that one's relatives and friends do not feel affection or fondness for him.
The eighth is that one plants the karmic causes and conditions for having enemies.
The ninth is that when one's body is destroyed and one's life comes to an end, one dies and
enters the hells.
The tenth is that if one emerges and becomes a woman, many men simultaneously engage in
the acts of a husband. If one becomes a man, one's wife is not chaste.
If one refrains from all such causes and conditions as these then this qualifies as not engaging
in sexual misconduct.
Pure Land, Pure Mind
Millions of lines of rhetoric fill the libraries of man. Religion and philosophy contribute to this
plague of dualistic babble more than any other category. So, these few lines of advice from an
ancient way will most likely simply be absorbed in the background noise. For this, I cry an
ocean of pearl teardrops.
Lord Dagpa of Sridpa Yesang
A very long time ago, someone cared for us more than any other since. This someone is known
as Lord Dagpa of the Sridpa Yesang heaven – a god from a god's realm. He is the eldest of
three brothers who were studying “the way” (Bön) as is the tradition there. When he reached
the study of beings and the realms of confusion, his mind became troubled. “Why do only
gods study this way master?” he asked. He was told that the other birth states could not
mentally reach a full understanding of such complicated study. This answer didn't sit well with
young Lord Dagpa. He had shared his questions with his brothers and in short time, this had
taken on significant force in his family.
Dagpa suspected that the human realm could accept Bön training. After Dagpa had completed
his studies, he and his brothers went to the god of compassion, Shenlha Okar to ask for his
advice on this delicate subject. Shenlha Okar suggested that the three brothers bring Bon into
the human realm in three successive stages. And so it was. Lord Dagpa emanated here first
and taught “the way” as it was taught to him. He found humans that possessed the necessary
attributes to become masters of the way. This was long before the concept of kingdom or
country and long before “religion” existed.
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There was only a necronomic worship of planetary gods at the time Bön arrived on earth. And
so it was a humble beginning when the first humans were shown the “captured awareness”
exercise, simply introduced as, “Here, try this”. The captured awareness exercise is a
fundamental part of the introduction to physical awareness and the energy systems of the
body. This simple hand posture and breathing exercise is discounted by most of today's “less
primitive” eastern religions. It's just not complicated enough to be of interest to a “mystery
school”. In Dagpa's teachings, there is no mystery. Everything is explained and experienced
firsthand.
Five Colors
Dagpa taught us how to separate the thing that has the experience from the experience itself
through the captured awareness exercise. He then introduced us (mankind) to the concept
that there are five primordial (archetypical) energies. Beings, (he was careful to not say “gods”
or “Humans” or “animals”) are primarily one color, and usually have a second color that acts
on them. These colors have attributes and behave in specific and predictable ways when they
encounter another color. This is true for physical and social formation of beings and the
display field they experience around them.
And so, the second lessons centered around learning and gaining experience with these five
colors and their behavior in our physical experience. To aid in the study of these energies,
Dagpa showed his students how to make three colored cubes out of wood or bone. These
cubes are used to speak to our “shadow awareness” when we are unclear about what the
colors are doing.
Later this was expanded into the creation of Khil Khors for reading and changing human life
mandalas. Something practiced even today by Bon and Buddhist monks. While learning about
the colors, it becomes very clear that there are two potentials that seem to be at work: Peace
and Wrath. Humans are prone to believing in “good and bad”, but these are only illusions
arising from ignorance. Peace creates and wrath destroys. Nothing more.
Both are always present in any moment. One cannot be without the other as the simple act of
creation must destroy what is already there to change it into something else. At this point, I
must acknowledge the critics of our Bon. It is said by “Scholars” that there is no “historic
evidence” that anyone from the first Bon, usually called “Archaic Bon” or “the folk religion of
Tibet” had made it into the current era. The Buddhists would like to believe that we are dust
and legend.
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I will reveal the “historic evidence” in the easiest way for anyone to explore. First, look at the
five colors of Tibetan traditional art. You will find them in their folk clothes, paintings,
buildings, religious tools. Try and find a time in Tibet's history when these five colors were not
a central theme in their culture. The five colors are Red, Blue, White, Green and Yellow. Every
aspect of Tibetan Society has these colors present.
Now, take a look at any truly ancient people. I'm talking pre-historic here as in before 3000
years ago. Native Americans (both north and south), Island people, the Japanese, Chinese and
many others all wore these colors, painted their buildings with them, and had them as a
central theme in their society. It wasn't until much later in their society that the colors faded
into the background and the meanings were forgotten.
As ignorance replaced wisdom. These civilizations are referred to as “children of the five
colors” and represent the wide influence of the “Way” Lord Dagpa had brought here. So,
where did all of Dagpa's Masters go? I'm glad you asked.
Six Realms of Confusion
Central to eastern religion is the concept of the six states of rebirth. These include:
• Gods
• Demi-gods
• Humans
• Animals
• Hungry Ghosts
• 8 levels of Hell
To be more specific, these are six states of presence. You can be born into one of these
“realms” or you can experience them in any realm if your presence is allowed to wander on its
own. Here the term “presence” means the thing having the experience and its connection to
the experience as being one and the same. In this regard, the question is, “If you are not
controlling your energy, who is?” The concept of presence is fairly complicated when first
encountered. For now, we will handle it as an intellectual concept.
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Anatomy of a typical being
Dagpa taught that a being is comprised of a physical awareness, a shadow awareness, an
enlightened presence (which is the Triune Awareness), gesture and emanation. The physical
awareness is fairly easy to experience, but hard to master. The shadow awareness is much
“bigger”- more expanded and starts to emerge as you expand in your abilities within the
process in the “Into the Dream” teaching.
The enlightened awareness is indescribable as it goes way beyond physical concept. Presence
is the place we view experience from. It can be human (desire based) or animal (really desire
based) or even hungry ghost (can't get enough), or any of the six states. For all of you who
want to know where you will be born next life, look at where your mind dwells in this one.
If it is despair or anger, expect a hell realm. If it is desire for physical pleasures, learn to bark,
roll over and do tricks now, it will save you time next life. Think about it. Does a squeak toy get
you excited? Gesture is the display that we experience. It is a complex energy pattern that is
literally the display of “reality” that we believe in. If our presence is angry, then a gesture that
is turbulent will usually increase the anger. There is much more to this relationship than can be
explained here in these few words.
Emanation is of three kinds: Inner, outer and secret. Inner sets the general way your thoughts
are managed and displays itself as your thought tendencies. For instance, you may value
knowledge over experience or really get angry when you know a teaching or teacher is false.
Those tie to an archetype emanation. Outer emanation effects how you act outwardly.
The secret emanation is the core of your belief system and likewise represents a core
archetype. So, in the simplest terms, you work basically like this: Your secret emanation sets
the general framework for your beliefs. The inner emanation takes the gestures it comes into
contact with and starts to shape thoughts, these thoughts come into your shadow awareness
and begin to take on feeling. The physical awareness becomes aware of the feelings, and then
interprets the gesture based on presence and the thoughts formed under the influence of the
inner emanation. These become actions, framed within the confines of the outer emanation.
These actions affect the gesture and this is experienced as the laws of cause and effect.
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If you are reading this document, then you have
already had at least some success with the Triune
Awareness exercises.
By now you should be beginning to experience life in
the “See, Recognize and Continue (SRC)” pattern. You
should have found a calm and new perspective to
view your daily life.
Sure, your reading speed probably is somewhere over 1000 words per minute, and you
probably can maintain the process during normal activities for short periods. If this is you, then
you are ready to expand your view a bit more.
There are three dreams you should know about:
Sleep State – dreaming when you are asleep.
Awake Dreams – the experience that you have called “reality”.
Death Dreams – this is called the “Bardo” where you pass after death on the road
to finding a new birth.
Each of them has some particular elements and each of them contain common elements. We
will be addressing each of these states in more depth during our online teachings, but for now,
you should know about these three dream states. They make up what we call “the Samsaric
Cycle”; or “The Wheel of Sorrows”.
Now, it is not that everything in these sleep states are painful or cause sorrow, but the peaks
and valleys in them produce a contrast where hope and fear dwell. It is these two emotions
that drive most beings around this wheel. They are like a pair of slave drivers, one with a whip
and one with a pleasure drug.
EXERCISE ONE
This exercise had three parts. You will have to have practiced the Triune Awareness process
enough for it to have become somewhat automatic. This is usually about the 45 to 60 day
mark from beginning.
Today – all day during the sunny part of the day, you will do everything you can to simply go
through the day doing the SRC process. If you must stop for a human reason, put it on pause
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and do the human task then return to it. This must be the major part of the sun part of the
day.
When the sun sets, relax. Breathe. Do the captured awareness mudra yoga just before bed
and push any thoughts, emotions or such into your hands. Spend about 15 minutes on this.
Then sleep.
EXERCISE TWO
When you wake up the next day, take a “dream inventory” from the night before. Did the SRC
process continue in your sleeping dream? If not, how did you sleep? If it did, how rested are
you today?
Now, continue the SRC process all day today. This time, don’t stop when the sun sets. Once
again, do captured awareness just before bed. The next morning take a dream inventory
again. Was anything different?
Repeat exercise one and exercise two in sequence for three weeks. One day of exercise one
and the next day of exercise two, then back to exercise one …
EXERCISE THREE
This exercise is about amplification. Like the speed reading exercise, as you began to
implement the skill, your ability to chunk information into your experience increased – here
we will be focusing on the same thing.
To achieve that end, you are going to see and recognize the things in your space but this time
instead of continuing, we are going to add a step.
So you walk into a room and you look to your left and see a piece of furniture. Now you are
going to see and recognize the attributes of that object. See and recognize the:
Color
Size
Shapes
Material it is made of
And the purpose it is being used for.
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Do this as you go through your day. Add this to your exercise one and
exercise two process and continue for four weeks.
Why do we alternate between exercise one and exercise two? Because you
need a break when you are learning this process and developing these
skills. You simply are not used to this much information feed nonstop.
You wouldn’t be able to recognize this much detail and be able to express it
as a conceptual offering if you hadn’t learned to expand your awarenesses
and increase the amount of granularity that they can recognize. When you
look at a Tibetan shrine room, the vast display of colors and detailed statues, paintings and
such overwhelm the senses and the mind kind of just falls into awe.
This is not by accident. Bönku know the limitations of human mental capacity and we
intentionally build environments that produce awe and inspiration to grow beyond those
limitations.
We know how to do that because we notice details. We see, recognize and continue
processing everything until we have rich models of any dream object in the physical, symbolic
structural, sound/texture/emotional and in the mental patterning.
This process is one of five primordial keys.
The ability to have this level of observation skills leads to instantaneous magic. When you
understand the progression of what is displaying itself before you, you know what must
manifest next to continue the emergence of that outcome. You know where that process can
branch and form a completely different outcome. And you know what the timing is for it to
happen.
That is a very powerful place to be. One small action on your part can change the outcome.
Maybe the conditions you need are just two branches away from happening right now.
Knowing this could be extremely valuable if you wish to manifest that outcome. You just take
one action when the first branch arrives and another one when the second branch manifests.
Effortlessly, you bring about the outcome.
You may be wondering how all of this is possible? My answer is simple: “It is because your
entire existence is a dream!” As your Triune Awareness emerges, you will become a master
dream maker. In the old Bön kingdom, a Bönku would simply use his Triune Awareness to
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fabricate a temple space where ever he wanted it. Sometimes it was more or less permanent
and sometimes it was only there as long as he wanted it to be.
This practice was so common with Bönku that people stopped trying to figure out where the
huge building went off to. It is preserved today as legend, but the Triune Awareness is the
source of this kind of magical power. You are learning the foundation practices of this ancient
Bön doctrine in this series. The original doctrine is called “The Arrow of Illuminated Wisdom”
and has been oral instructions for most of its existence on earth.
Practice these instructions passionately and diligently and soon you will have access to the
next teachings on what to do with this new developing wisdom.
Do attend Dream Leadership events and meetings. They will have games and other helpful
exercises to help you move quickly through this. Do contact Bönku (Padma Gonpo Rinpoche)
on Facebook or through our archaicbon.com website with your questions. You can also email
him at padmagonporinpoche@gmail.com.
Remember that your Dream Leaders cannot teach you this. They can help you with walking
through exercises and with the valuable encouragement that learning needs to grow quickly.
They can also ensure that your questions get answered by Bönku and your progress is on
track. If you need them to, they can be your accountability coach for a small fee.
Now, what are you waiting for? Go out there and get started expanding your practice!
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Triune Awareness Program by Padma Gonpo Rinpoche
(Paul McDowell). This program is taken from our direct
oral linage teachings for Bön students who have
passed through the first half of their developing stage
requirements.
To qualify for this teaching, usually you would have to
had ten empowerments, spent the last five years as a
dedicated student and had shown significant
development in the Bön process.
This teaching is being given to those drawn to it because of the time of Penno which begins
2026. This gift is given in the “Shadow of Penno” as a means to reduce suffering and loss
during this unprecedented time of crisis. May you have swift success!
We have created “Dream Leaders” to Assist Bönku in disseminating these teachings and given
them the support so that they may be able to help you with the basic practices. Dream
Leaders are given games, exercises and other helpful solutions to pass along to you that can
swiften your progress.
Only Bönku can teach you. But our Dream Leaders can coach you with his
assistance. Good luck and happy progress!