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{{Tibetan Buddhism}} {{Short description|Lineage within Tibetan Buddhism}}
{{primary sources|date=February 2022}}
'''Aro''' is a lineage within the ] of ]. It has several unusual characteristics. The ] on which it is based teaches all Buddhist topics from point of view of ], and so is characterized by uncommon simplicity. The lineage is entirely non-monastic (]), and so emphasizes householder practice and non-celibate ordination. All of its contemporary teachers are ethnically non-Tibetan.


{{Infobox Organization
== The terma ==
|name = Aro gTér
|image = Aro gTér.png
|caption =
|size = 180px
|abbreviation =
|founder = Ngakpa Chögyam
|formation = 1980s
|headquarters = ],<br>],<br>]
|type = ]<br>]<br>]
|website = {{URL|http://arobuddhism.org/}}
}}
The '''Aro gTér''' is a ] within the ] school of ]. The pure vision ] on which it is based teaches all Buddhist topics from the point of view of ]. The Aro gTer terma was received by Western-born Buddhist, Ngakpa Chögyam. The lineage is a ] or non-monastic lineage and emphasizes householder practice and non-celibate ordination. All of its contemporary teachers are ethnically non-Tibetan.{{sfn|Cousens|2010|p=196}}


==History ==
The Aro lineage is based on the '''Aro gTér''', a ] or "revelation" of ]. (Revelation through dreams, visions, and discovered treasures is considered the basis for many canonical spiritual texts within the Nyingmapa tradition.) The Aro gTér has several distinctive characteristics: it treats all Buddhist subjects from point of view of Dzogchen; as a consequence its practices are simpler than the elaborate ]s typical of ]; and it includes practices of ] and ] as well as the more common ]. These characteristics make it particularly suitable for those with jobs and families, and therefore limited practice time, which accords with the Aro lineage's non-monastic orientation.
Ngakpa Chögyam founded the Aro gTér organization in the 1980s.{{sfn|Cousens|2010|p=196}} He was born in ] in 1952 and grew up in England. His father was English and his mother German; he is distantly related to the composer ]. He studied Buddhism from the early 1970s through 1989, while working as a manual laborer, factory worker, and a truck driver in Britain to subsidize his education.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|title=Ngakpa Chögyam Biography|url=http://aro-books-worldwide.org/shared/text/b/biography_ph_01_ncr_01_eng.php|website=Aro Books Worldwide|accessdate=3 February 2015}}</ref>


According to a terma which Ngakpa Chögyam received in visions, the Aro tradition has antecedents in a 'Mother Essence Lineage' of female ] originating with ],{{sfn | Chögyam | 1994 }} and forward to ] (1886-1923).{{sfn | Rawlinson | 1997 | pages = 207 }}{{sfn | Cousens | 2010 | p=196 }} According to the Aro gTér, Kyunchen Aro Lingma first discovered the terma.{{sfn | Rawlinson | 1997 | pages = 207 }}{{sfn | Cousens | 2010 | p=196}} This terton says Aro Lingma transmitted the lineage to her only son, named Aro Yeshe (1915-1951).
=== Pervasive Dzogchen approach ===
{{Main|Dzogchen}}
Dzogchen is the ] (approach) that takes one's own intrinsic enlightened nature as the basis of practice. From the point of view of Dzogchen, all beings are always already enlightened. The goal of Tibetan Buddhist practice is to recognize and manifest that pre-existing enlightenment as a ] in benefiting others. There is, therefore, nothing that needs to be created or removed, and no special conditions are required. The only difference between ordinary existence and Buddhahood is in the way experience is perceived: as dualistic or ].


According to Gyaltsen Rinpoche, ] recognized Ngakpa Chögyam as Aro Yeshe's ],{{sfn | Gyaltsen Rinpoche | 1986 | pages = xi-xvii }} and Khordong gTerchen Tulku ] recognized him as 'a-Shul Pema Legdeas', the incarnation of Aro Yeshe's predecessor.{{sfn | Rawlinson | 1997 | pages = 207 }}{{sfn | Gyaltsen Rinpoche | 1986 | pages = xi-xvii }}
The Dzogchen point of view permeates Aro.<ref>{{cite web | title = Dzogchen | url = http://arobuddhism.org/community/dzogchen.html | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080127090938/http://arobuddhism.org/community/dzogchen.html| archivedate= 27 January 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> The lower yanas (] and ]) are re-presented in Dzogchen terms, and take on its characteristic style of simplicity, clarity, and expansiveness. Enlightenment needs only to be recognized, and is not produced by artificial means. Aro is therefore primarily concerned with bringing meditative awareness into ordinary life, rather than with elaborate, intellectualized, and time-consuming liturgical chanting.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Nyingma Aro Tradition Today | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/m/mother_essence_ar_05_aro_today_eng.php | accessdate = 2008-01-22}}</ref> For Dzogchen, the ultimate practice is "living the view," i. e. experiencing and acting in the world as non-dual.<ref>{{cite web | title = Form, emptiness, and non-duality | url = http://arobuddhism.org/community/form-emptiness-and-non-duality.html | accessdate = 2008-01-22 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080113181441/http://arobuddhism.org/community/form-emptiness-and-non-duality.html| archivedate= 13 January 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>


In the 1970s, Ngakpa Chögyam studied with Chhi'med Rig'dzin Rinpoche,{{sfn | Cousens | 2010 | p =196 }}{{sfn | Chhi’-mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche | 2003 }} ],{{sfn | Gyaltsen Rinpoche | 1986 | pages = xi-xvii }} ],{{sfn | Gyaltsen Rinpoche | 1986 | pages = xi-xvii }} ],{{sfn | Gyaltsen Rinpoche | 1986 | pages = xi-xvii }} and ].{{sfn | Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche | 1991 }} He wrote about his experiences in his 2011 book, ''Wisdom Eccentrics''.{{sfn | Chögyam | 2011 }}
=== The Heart Sutra and the Sutra of the Owl-Headed Dakini ===


H.H. ] gave the name Sang-ngak-chö-dzong to establish the western White Tantric Community organization,{{sfn | Gyaltsen Rinpoche | 1986 | pages = xi-xvii }} which is located in Britain.{{sfn | Chögyam | 1994 }}{{sfn | Chögyam | Déchen |2003 | p=308}}
As in Dzogchen generally, understanding of the relationships between form, ], and non-duality is central to Aro. Unusually, Aro takes the '']'' (conventionally part of Mahayana rather than Dzogchen) as the central text on this topic. The ''Heart Sutra'''s statement that "form is emptiness and emptiness is form" is regarded as the essence of the matter.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Heart Sutra | url = http://arobuddhism.org/community/the-heart-sutra.html | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080113181450/http://arobuddhism.org/community/the-heart-sutra.html| archivedate= 13 January 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>


==Teachings and practices==
Within the Aro gTér, the ''Sutra of the Owl-Headed Dakini'' (]:'' 'ug gdong snying thig mkha' 'gro mdo''; Sanskrit: ''Ulukha-mukha Dakini Upadesha Sutra'') treats the major topics of Sutrayana from point of view of Dzogchen.<ref>{{cite book | last = Pamo | first = Nor'dzin | title = Spacious Passion | publisher = ] | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-9653948-4-0 | url = http://spacious-passion.org/}}</ref> It includes unusual presentations of the ] and ],<ref>{{cite web | title = The Emptiness & Form of The Four Noble Truths & the Eightfold Path | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/n/noble_truths_ar_eng.php | first = Ngakma Nor'dzin | last = Pamo | accessdate = 2008-01-22}}</ref> and of ].<ref>{{cite web | title = The 'ug-Kyi Lab-Nga & The 'ug-Dong Khandro Nying Thig mDo | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/p/precepts_ar_eng.php | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20071222195035/http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/p/precepts_ar_eng.php| archivedate= 22 December 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> The Five Precepts are said to have inner meanings at the level of Dzogchen, as follows:
The principal practices are ] and ].{{sfn|Cousens|2010|p=196}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sutrayana presentation
! Aro presentation
|-
| To refrain from killing sentient beings.
| To refrain from killing the efflorescence of ] as it sparkles through the fabric of duality.
|-
| To refrain from stealing.
| To refrain from stealing opportunities for realization.
|-
| To refrain from sexual misconduct.
| To remain always in ecstatic embrace with the ] or ].
|-
| To refrain from lying.
| To refrain from expressing the lie of dualism.
|-
| To refrain from intoxicants.
| To refrain from the intoxication of duality, and to become drunken with primordial wisdom.
|}

=== Essential Tantric practice ===

Dzogchen practices are typically much simpler than those of Tantra. Aro describes its Tantric practices as "essential," meaning that they lack the typical complexities of Tantra (elaborate ] visualizations, extensive ] texts, and lengthy rituals). This is viewed as a reflection of the simple style of the Indian ] in the earliest days of Tantra.<ref>{{cite book | title = Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas | first = Keith | last = Dowman | year = 1986 | publisher = State University of New York Press | isbn = 978-0-88706-160-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = The method of the Mahasiddhas | url = http://arobuddhism.org/retreats/the-method-of-the-mahasiddhas.html | accessdate = 2008-01-22}}</ref>

In terms of the two ] not counting Dzogchen, Aro is concerned primarily with ], emphasizing ] and ] rather than with ], which emphasizes ritual performance and ]. As in the Anuyoga style generally, ] are practiced without a textual sadhana, but simply by ] with ].<ref name="Wearing">{{cite book | last = Chögyam | first = Ngakpa | title = Wearing the Body of Visions | publisher = Aro Books | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-9653948-1-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/t/tantra_ar_bristol_eng.php | title = The Bristol Talks | first = Ngak'chang | last = Rinpoche | accessdate = 2008-01-22}}</ref> The practice of lhatong, from the semde ngöndro (see below), is also viewed as encompassing Tantra, so that accomplishing lhatong has the same value as accomplishing Tantric sadhana.

Aro emphasizes "yogic song," a mainly Dzogchen practice.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://arobuddhism.org/articles/yogic-song.html | title = Yogic song | first = Ngala Nor'dzin | last = Pamo | accessdate = 2008-01-22}}</ref> Yogic songs are short texts (such as mantras) set to melodies, and sung repeatedly.

=== Emotions and Trekchöd ===

Aro teaches the Dzogchen system of the ] (territoriality, aggression, neediness, anxiety, and depression) and ] (generosity, clarity, compassionate appreciation, accomplishment, and unboundedness).<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Chögyam | first1 = Ngakpa | first2 = Khandro | last2 = Déchen | title = Spectrum of Ecstasy: The Five Wisdom Emotions According to Vajrayana Buddhism | publisher = ] | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-59030-061-9}}</ref> It teaches both Tantric methods of transforming the neuroses into wisdoms and the Dzogchen ] method of liberating neuroses into their natural condition.

=== Semde ===

Dzogchen encompasses three "series," or approaches: ], ], and ]. Historically all three were important, but in recent centuries men-ngag-de has largely displaced the other two, as it is considered more advanced. Men-ngag-de is also, however, the least approachable in its own terms, and typically therefore Dzogchen has been made available only to those who have mastered Tantra. Aro includes material in all three series.

Semde, the ''Series of the Nature of Mind'', is the most approachable series, because it contains a ] or "preparation" consisting of four meditation practices that bring the student to level of experience required to practice Dzogchen proper.<ref name="Roaring">{{cite book | last1 = Chögyam | first1 = Ngakpa | first2 = Khandro | last2 = Déchen | title = Roaring Silence: Discovering the Mind of Dzogchen | publisher = ] | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-1-57062-944-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/n/ngondro_ar_02_nrp_eng.php | title = Ngöndro – the real thing! | first = Ngala Nor'dzin | last = Pamo | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20071222085753/http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/n/ngondro_ar_02_nrp_eng.php| archivedate= 22 December 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> These are shi-nè, lhatong, nyi-mèd, and lhundrüp. ] ("calm abiding") is the meditation practice that leads to the experience of emptiness, and corresponds to Sutrayana. ] ("further vision") leads to the experience of form arising from emptiness, and corresponds to Tantrayana. Nyi-mèd ("non-duality") produces the recognition of the sameness of emptiness and form. Lhundrüp ("spontaneity") is the experience of enlightenment itself.

=== Longde and sKu-mNyé ===

{{Main|Kum_Nye#Aro_gT.C3.A9r_sKu-mNy.C3.A9|l1=Aro sKu-mNyé}}

Longde, the Series of Space, is concerned primarily with the experience of the ] or "energetic body." It contains various systems of physical exercises that produce unusual sensations in which the practitioner may find ]. Aro sKu-mNyé is one such.<ref>{{cite book |last= Déchen |first= Khandro | others= Pauline Williams (illustrator) |title= moving being |url= http://arobuddhism.org/books/moving-being.html |year= 2009|publisher= Aro Books worldwide |location= Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan |isbn= 978-1-898185-05-5}}</ref>

Aro sKu-mNyé is a set of 111 exercises divided into six series, the movements of the lion, the vulture, the tiger, the eagle, the garuda, and the dragon. They range from simple and gentle to vigorous and extremely difficult. They disorient the conceptual mind and galvanize the body's subtle energies, in order to give access to non-ordinary experience. The system is also taught as a general exercise regimen to non-Buddhists, and for other non-religious benefits, rather as ] is.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.oselnyima.com/sku_mnye.html | title = sKu-mNyé | first = 'ö-Sel | last = Nyima | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080119230545/http://www.oselnyima.com/sku_mnye.html| archivedate= 19 January 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

=== Romance as Buddhist practice ===

One of the Tantric ] (vows) is for men always to regard women as the embodiment of wisdom and never to disparage them.<ref>{{cite book | first = Reginald A. | last = Ray | title = Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet | publisher = Shambhala Publications | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-57062-917-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dhagpo-kagyu.org/anglais/science-esprit/fondements/general/samaya.htm | title = On the meaning of samaya | last = Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche | accessdate = 2008-01-22 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927222215/http://www.dhagpo-kagyu.org/anglais/science-esprit/fondements/general/samaya.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-09-27}}</ref> Aro, with a predominance of female practitioners, makes the symmetry explicit: women vow to regard men as the embodiment of compassion and never to disparage them. The Aro ''Tantra of the Mirror that Reflects the Sun and Moon of the Khandros and Pawos'' discusses the consequences of this Tantric vow from point of view of men-ngag-de.<ref>{{cite journal
| last1 = Ngakpa
| first1 = Rinpoche
| first2 = Khandro
| last2 = Déchen
| title = Tantric Psychology: Honey on the Razor's Edge
| journal = Kindred Spirit
| volume = 3
| issue = 10
| pages = 14–18
| publisher = Kindred Spirit
| location = Foxhole, Dartington, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EB, England
| date = Spring 1996
| issn = 0955-7067
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| accessdate = }}
</ref> It describes perceptual practices that are possible only within the context of romantic relationship.

Aro is explicitly gay-friendly, although not all of its teachings on romance are applicable to same-sex relationships.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://arobuddhism.org/community/being-gay-practicing-tantra.html | title = Being gay, practicing Tantra | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080213145338/http://arobuddhism.org/community/being-gay-practicing-tantra.html| archivedate= 13 February 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

=== The name "Aro gTér" ===

''Aro'' means "taste of the primordial A" in Tibetan; this letter has special significance as a ] in ] Buddhism. ''gTér'' is a spelling of ''terma'' (]: gter ma). The Aro gTér is not known to have any connection with the much earlier Aro system of Dzogchen semde promulgated by ].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/s/semde_ar_eng.php | title = rDzogs Chen: the importance of Sem-dé | first = Khandro | last = Déchen | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080121082757/http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/s/semde_ar_eng.php| archivedate= 21 January 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

== Lineage history ==

According to the terma, Aro has antecedents in a "Mother Essence Lineage" of female ] stretching back to ], in the early days of Buddhism in Tibet,<ref name="GasshoMother">{{cite journal | last = Chögyam | first = Ngakpa | title = The mother essence lineage | journal = Gassho | volume = 1 | issue = 5 | year = 1994 | url = http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/The_Mother_Essence_Lineage,_by_Ngakpa_Chogyam_Rinpoche | accessdate = 2009-05-18}}</ref> and forward to Aro Lingma (1886-1923), who discovered it.<ref name="Rawlinson">{{cite book | last = Rawlinson | first = Andrew | title = Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions | publisher = Open Court | year = 1998 | location = Chicago | pages = 207 | url = http://www.payer.de/neobuddhismus/neobud05012.htm | isbn = 0-8126-9310-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Khyungchen Aro Lingma | url = http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/m/mother_essence_ar_04_kal_eng.php | accessdate = 2008-01-22| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080213065421/http://arobuddhism.org/encyclopaedia/shared/text/m/mother_essence_ar_04_kal_eng.php| archivedate= 13 February 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

Aro Lingma, also sometimes called Jetsunma ], is said to have transmitted the lineage to her only son, named Aro Yeshe (1915-1951). One of the present Aro gTér lineage holders, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, was recognized as the tulku of Aro Yeshe by ], and as the incarnation of Aro Yeshe's predecessor, 'a-Shul Pema Legden, by Khordong gTerchen Tulku Chhi'med Rig'dzin Rinpoche.<ref name="Rawlinson" /><ref>{{Cite book | first = Gyaltsen | last = Rinpoche | editor-last = Chögyam | editor-first = Ngakpa | contribution = Introduction | contribution-url = http://approachingaro.org/gyaltsen-rinpoche-introduction | pages = xi-xvii | title = Wearing the Body of Visions | publisher = Aro Books | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-9653948-1-9}}</ref> In the 1970s, Ngak'chang Rinpoche studied with ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite web | title = Ngak'chang Rinpoche: biographic notes | url = http://aroencyclopaedia.org/shared/text/n/ncr_bi_eng.php | accessdate = 2008-12-01}}</ref> Ngak'chang Rinpoche has written of his experiences of these times in his 2011 book ].<ref name="arobooks.org">arobooks.org: </ref>

== Aro in the contemporary West ==

The current Aro lineage holders, Ngak'chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, are ethnically non-Tibetan. Other ]s of the lineage were also Western-born, and teach in the United States and various European countries. The lineage's primary legal organization, given the name Sang-ngak-chö-dzong by ], is located in Britain.<ref name="SNCD">{{cite journal | last = Chögyam | first = Ngakpa | title = Sang-ngak-cho-dzong and the evolution of the apprentice programme | journal = Gassho | volume = 1 | issue = 4 | year = 1994 | url = http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Sang-Ngak-Cho-Dzong_And_The_Evolution_Of_The_Apprentice_Programme | accessdate = 2009-05-18| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090629084806/http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Sang-Ngak-Cho-Dzong_And_The_Evolution_Of_The_Apprentice_Programme| archivedate= 29 June 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>Chögyam and Déchen 2003, p. 308.</ref>

In Tibet, Aro was a non-monastic lineage, practiced by lay people and by holders of ] (non-monastic, non-celibate) ordination.<ref name="GasshoMother" /><ref name="Rawlinson" /> Its modern structure reflects continuing commitment to these two groups.

Aro strongly upholds the centrality of the Lama-student relationship in Vajrayana.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dorje | first = Rig'dzin | title = Dangerous Friend: The Teacher-Student Relationship in Vajrayana Buddhism | publisher = ] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-57062-857-3}}</ref> Aro Lamas typically teach as married couples.

=== Apprenticeship ===

A journal article describes the evolution of the Aro "apprenticeship" program, an institutional form not found in Tibet.<ref name="SNCD" /> It was designed to make extensive interaction with Lamas possible for people with families – more than is typically possible either in Tibet or with Tibetan Lamas in the West.

Apprenticeship is an intermediate stage between typical householder religious adherence and ordination. For serious students, it provides the frequent personal guidance from Lamas that is generally unavailable to non-ordained people. On the other hand, it does not require Tantric samaya or the Ngak'phang commitments.

To ensure that close relationships with Lamas remain possible, Aro adopted limits on the number of students any Lama teaches. It has a "lateral" mode of growth, "with a greater number of teachers, rather than one teacher with an unwieldy number of students."

=== Ordination ===

Tibetan Buddhism contains two systems of ], the familiar ] ordinations and the less well known ] or Tantric ordinations.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://blog.shambhala.com/2006/10/03/the-ngakpa-tradition-an-interview-with-khetsun-sangpo-rinpoche/ | title = The Ngakpa Tradition | last = Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche | accessdate = 2013-08-21}}</ref> Ngak'phang ordination is non-monastic and non-celibate, but not "lay." It entails its own extensive system of vows, distinct from the monastic vows.

== Notes ==

<references/>


== References == == References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}


==Sources==
{{cite book
{{refbegin}}
| last = Chögyam
* {{Citation | last = Chhi’-mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche | first = Khordong gTérchen Tulku | contribution = Foreword | contribution-url = http://approachingaro.org/crr-foreword | editor-last1 = Chögyam | editor-first1 = Ngakpa | editor-first2 = Khandro | editor-last2 = Déchen | title = Spectrum of Ecstasy: The Five Wisdom Emotions According to Vajrayana Buddhism | publisher = ] | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-59030-061-9 | url = https://archive.org/details/spectrumofecstas00chum |url-access=registration }}
| first = Ngakpa
* {{Citation | last =Chögyam | first =Ngakpa | year =1994 | title =The mother essence lineage | journal =Gassho | volume =1 | issue =5 | url =http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/aprntice.htm | accessdate =2009-05-18}}
| title = Wearing the Body of Visions
* {{Citation | last =Chögyam | first =Ngakpa | year =2011 | title =Wisdom Eccentrics | publisher =Aro Books, Inc. | isbn=978-0965394864}}
| publisher = Aro Books
* {{Citation | last1 = Chögyam | first1 = Ngakpa | year = 2003 | first2 = Khandro | last2 = Déchen | title = Spectrum of Ecstasy: The Five Wisdom Emotions According to Vajrayana Buddhism | publisher = ] | isbn = 978-1-59030-061-9 | url = https://archive.org/details/spectrumofecstas00chum |url-access=registration }}
| year = 1995
* {{Citation |last=Cousens |first=Diana | editor1-last =Melton | editor1-first =J. Gordon | editor2-last =Baumann | editor2-first =Martin | year =2010 | chapter =Aro gTér | title= Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices |page=196 | publisher =ABC-CLIO |place=Santa Barbara|edition=2nd |isbn=9781598842036}}
| isbn = 978-0-9653948-1-9}}
* {{Citation | last = Gyaltsen Rinpoche | year = 1986 | contribution = Foreword | editor-last = Chögyam | editor-first = Ngakpa | title = Rainbow of Liberated Energy: Working With Emotions Through the Colour and Element Symbolism of Tibetan Tantra | publisher = ] | isbn = 978-0906540923 | contribution-url = http://approachingaro.org/lydr-foreword}}

* {{Citation | last =Rawlinson | first =Andrew | title =The book of enlightened masters : Western teachers in Eastern traditions | date =1997 | publisher =Open Court | location =Chicago, Ill. | isbn =978-0812693102 | edition =first print | url =https://archive.org/details/bookofenlightene00rawl |url-access=registration}}
{{cite book
* {{Citation | last = Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche | first = Ngakchang | year = 1991 | contribution = Foreword | editor-last = Chögyam | editor-first = Ngakpa | title = Rainbow of Liberated Energy: Working With Emotions Through the Colour and Element Symbolism of Tibetan Tantra | publisher = ] | isbn = 978-0906540923 | contribution-url = http://approachingaro.org/lydr-foreword}}
| last1 = Chögyam
{{refend}}
| first1 = Ngakpa
| first2 = Khandro
| last2 = Déchen
| title = Roaring Silence: Discovering the Mind of Dzogchen
| publisher = ]
| year = 2002
| isbn = 978-1-57062-944-0}}

{{cite book
| last1 = Chögyam
| first1 = Ngakpa
| first2 = Khandro
| last2 = Déchen
| title = Spectrum of Ecstasy: The Five Wisdom Emotions According to Vajrayana Buddhism
| publisher = ]
| year = 2003
| isbn = 978-1-59030-061-9}}

{{cite journal
| last = Chögyam
| first = Ngakpa
| title = Sang-ngak-cho-dzong and the evolution of the apprentice programme
| journal = Gassho
| volume = 1
| issue = 4
| year = 1994
| url = http://www.ncf.ca/freenet/rootdir/menus/sigs/religion/buddhism/gassho/gassho-4-toc
| accessdate = 2009-07-13}}

{{cite journal
| last = Chögyam
| first = Ngakpa
| title = The mother essence lineage
| journal = Gassho
| volume = 1
| issue = 5
| year = 1994
| url = http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/The_Mother_Essence_Lineage,_by_Ngakpa_Chogyam_Rinpoche
| accessdate = 2009-07-13
}}


==Further reading==
{{cite book
* {{cite journal |url=http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-AN/an140412.pdf |first=Ngakpa |last=Chogyam |title=Sang-ngak-cho-dzong and the Evolution of the Apprentice Programme |journal=Gassho |volume=1 |number=4 |date=May–June 1994 |accessdate=2015-06-16}}
| last = Dorje
* {{Citation | last = Dorje | first = Rig'dzin | year = 2001 | title = Dangerous Friend: The Teacher-Student Relationship in Vajrayana Buddhism | publisher = ] | isbn = 978-1-57062-857-3}}
| first = Rig'dzin
* {{Citation| last =Simmer-Brown | first =Judith | title =Dakini's warm breath: the feminine principle in Tibetan Buddhism | date =2001 | publisher =Shambhala | location =Boston | isbn =1-57062-720-7 | edition =1st}}
| title = Dangerous Friend: The Teacher-Student Relationship in Vajrayana Buddhism
| publisher = ]
| year = 2001
| isbn = 978-1-57062-857-3}}


== External links == == External links ==
* * {{official website|http://arobuddhism.org/}}
*
*


{{DEFAULTSORT:Aro gTer}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Aro gTer}}
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Latest revision as of 00:13, 20 June 2024

Lineage within Tibetan Buddhism
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Aro gTér
Formation1980s
FounderNgakpa Chögyam
TypeTibetan Buddhism
Western Buddhism
Dzogchen
HeadquartersVale of Glamorgan,
Wales,
United Kingdom
Websitearobuddhism.org

The Aro gTér is a lineage within the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The pure vision terma on which it is based teaches all Buddhist topics from the point of view of Dzogchen. The Aro gTer terma was received by Western-born Buddhist, Ngakpa Chögyam. The lineage is a ngagpa or non-monastic lineage and emphasizes householder practice and non-celibate ordination. All of its contemporary teachers are ethnically non-Tibetan.

History

Ngakpa Chögyam founded the Aro gTér organization in the 1980s. He was born in Hanover, Germany in 1952 and grew up in England. His father was English and his mother German; he is distantly related to the composer Franz Schubert. He studied Buddhism from the early 1970s through 1989, while working as a manual laborer, factory worker, and a truck driver in Britain to subsidize his education.

According to a terma which Ngakpa Chögyam received in visions, the Aro tradition has antecedents in a 'Mother Essence Lineage' of female tertöns originating with Yeshe Tsogyal, and forward to Kyungchen Aro Lingma (1886-1923). According to the Aro gTér, Kyunchen Aro Lingma first discovered the terma. This terton says Aro Lingma transmitted the lineage to her only son, named Aro Yeshe (1915-1951).

According to Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recognized Ngakpa Chögyam as Aro Yeshe's tulku, and Khordong gTerchen Tulku Chhi'med Rig'dzin Rinpoche recognized him as 'a-Shul Pema Legdeas', the incarnation of Aro Yeshe's predecessor.

In the 1970s, Ngakpa Chögyam studied with Chhi'med Rig'dzin Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kunzang Dorje Rinpoche, and Khamtrül Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche. He wrote about his experiences in his 2011 book, Wisdom Eccentrics.

H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche gave the name Sang-ngak-chö-dzong to establish the western White Tantric Community organization, which is located in Britain.

Teachings and practices

The principal practices are Vajrayana and Dzogchen.

References

  1. ^ Cousens 2010, p. 196.
  2. "Ngakpa Chögyam Biography". Aro Books Worldwide. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  3. ^ Chögyam 1994.
  4. ^ Rawlinson 1997, pp. 207.
  5. ^ Gyaltsen Rinpoche 1986, pp. xi–xvii.
  6. Chhi’-mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche 2003.
  7. Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche 1991.
  8. Chögyam 2011.
  9. Chögyam & Déchen 2003, p. 308.

Sources

Further reading

External links

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