Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Visits the Miksang Institute in Boulder

For ten days in July 2011, the Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography in Boulder, Colorado hosted Bhutanese Lama and filmmaker Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (also known as Khyentse Norbu), and Emily Avery Crow for a Miksang Training intensive with Michael Wood and Julie DuBose.

Each day different aspects of the path of direct seeing were presented. Following the usual progression of the Miksang Training curriculum, we began with discussions about how this is accomplished, supported by visual exercises and assignments. As the days unfolded, we gradually applied the orientation of direct seeing mixed with the 'practice of deep noticing' to larger visual contexts, from the immediate environment of our home and familiar world to various “outer” realms of perception such as water, sidewalks, people, visual space, as well as an exploration of the moments when we deeply resonate and connect to what we see—the heart of perception.

Our process included discussion, presentation of examples, visual exercises, and field-trips to downtown Boulder, followed by further discussion and sharing of images. Although Rinpoche was not in need of any instruction on the nature of direct perception whatsoever, we were able to provide him with guidance on how to understand and express his visual perceptions through the medium of photography. 

We have put some images of our time together HERE

•Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Biography

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is a highly esteemed lama, born in Bhutan in 1961. His dharma lineage - Khyentse (meaning "love & compassion") - is non sectarian (Rimé). He has received teachings from masters of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, and also Western education at London's School of Oriental and African Studies. He is the author of What Makes You Not a Buddhist (Shambhala, 2007).

Under his family name, Khyentse Norbu, Rinpoche is also known as a filmmaker. He has directed The Cup (1999), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and Travellers and Magicians (2003), the first feature film shot in Bhutan. He studied filmmaking with Bernardo Bertolucci, serving as consultant on the Italian director’s 1993 film, Little Buddha.

Working tirelessly for the preservation of the Buddhist teachings, he has created centers of learning in Bhutan, India, the Far East as well as in Europe, Australia and North America, all while supervising his traditional seat, Dzongsar Monastery, in China (eastern Tibet). He is responsible for the welfare of more than 1,600 monks there and in India. 

Rinpoche has created several global non-profit organizations:

Khyentse Foundation
Lotus Outreach
84,000 (to translate and preserve the teachings of Buddha)
Siddhartha's Intent 

In India, he founded the non-sectarian Deer Park Institute in Bir; and in Bhutan, he is one of the leaders of the Gross National Happiness movement, with a model project underway, the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative.
 
Rinpoche is beloved by his students, for his warmth, compassion, clarity and incredible sense of humor.