Craft retreat 2005
– making a torma
This picture shows the youngest member of Ngala Nor’dzin and Ngala ’ö-Dzin’s sangha making a torma. Cassie is the daughter of two of Ngala Nor’dzin and Ngala ’ö-Dzin’s apprentices, and it is delightful to have a family group as part of the sangha. Cassie will remain a probationary apprentice with the guidance of her parents until she is old enough to confirm the certainty of her commitment to the Aro gTér Tradition and to Ngala Nor’dzin and Ngala ’ö-Dzin as her Lamas, by becoming a gétrug – and apprentice tantrika. The inclusion of a family group in the sangha is a wonderful expression of the ngak’phang tradition – the tradition of householders and family groups being involved in practice.
Cassie regularly practises with her parents and knows many of the vajra melodies by heart. This was her first retreat as an apprentice, and she greatly valued the opportunity to practise with the whole sangha and to be involved in the craft work of the 2005 craft retreat. She made quite a large torma out of clay coils.
Ngala Nor’dzin says of Cassie:
She has great energy and enthusiasm, which is infectious. She asks interesting and deep questions which are useful to all who practise with her. It is extremely valuable to be able to begin to practise at such a young age – an opportunity many of us did not have. Her parents enjoy her involvement without expectation, and we are sure that she is going to become an extraordinary practitioner.
