Hi everyone, friends of Tig-Le,
Welcome to the new Tig-Le House blog. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to introduce you to Tig-Le. I hope you enjoy the topics covered, the information and commentaries on mindfulness and meditation, the teachings and practices shared through the Tig-Le House blog page.
For anyone who hasn’t met me yet, my name is Ian Hackett, I am the owner, director and teacher-trainer at Tig-Le House. Tig-Le is located at my family’s home at 11 Tingle Avenue in the township of Margaret River on Wadandi Pibelmum Boodja, Western Australia. Western Australia is my family’s home State. I was born in Perth on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja and have lived and worked throughout rural, regional and remote Australia in the agricultural, organics, landcare, and regenerative bushland management industries. I have trained and practiced various meditation techniques under the guidance of experienced teachers since the late 1980’s. The Southwest of W.A. has been home with my partner Wendy and our family since 1998, we have lived in Margaret River since 2006.
I thought it would be helpful to firstly explain what the word Tig-Le means, and what a Tig-Le House is?
Tig-Le, also spelt tigle and Thigle, is a Tibetan word cognate with the Sanskrit words Bindu and Bija. It has a beautiful and expansive meaning. Tig-Le translates directly into English as either, and all the following words – dot, drop, point, origin, essence, center, periphery, source, nucleus, cipher, seed and sphere. The constraints of English language don’t allow a single word to encapsulate the fullness of meaning. To convey the understanding requires an explanation accompanied by creative descriptions.
An explanation
At its core mindfulness is a training for the development of Refuge. The term Mindfulness originally translated from the Pāli word ‘Satipaṭṭhāna’ into English as ‘recollection’. But what are we recollecting? Through the practices leading to mindfulness we are purposefully recollecting, remembering, returning home to the wisdom source of our innate compassionate human nature, regathering with the seed (Tig-Le) of compassion. This seed of wisdom is ever-present and pre-existing, there at the source, a vital essence of the fabric of the world and a living aspect of the body, sphere, of life and the cosmos.
The source or origin of this wisdom, the Refuge of mature compassion, is present within us all as a Tig-Le, a state or point of being that can be recollected, returned home to. And, having a cyclic nature, through practice and insight, we can re-arrive at this origin, at this source point again and again.
This seed of energy or droplet contains the root source of all wisdom and is simultaneously:
- the point from which all wisdom emerges, germinates
- the active growth and unfolding of the wisdom of compassion in worldly life
- the result and outcomes of the activity of the wisdom of compassion
- the source and sphere of all existence
- and the moment of reunification with the original source
It is an all-encompassing big mind picture. Using language and concepts to explain is dualistic in nature making it difficult to encapsulate and share a fullness of understanding, and so here are some descriptive ways to convey the essence of the meaning.
Descriptions
“Like a single drop of water in the vast ocean of earth, an individual molecule of water is simultaneously one drop of water indistinguishable from other drops, and is every ripple, wave, tide, and the whole ocean”.
“Imagine the cycle of life of a bean seed. Contained inside each seed is the source knowledge and wisdom for this seed to be awakened when coming into contact with the right conditions to become alive, actively germinating and growing, producing leaves, stems, flowers and pods. It carries within its form all the knowledge and receptivity for pre-existing deep relationship with the world system including the sun, moon, water, soil, other life forms, pollinators, mycelium and more that allow for it to produce seeds that will carry the wisdom of these relationships, of mutual support and benefit, forward into the future. The plant has gone through a cycle of sprouting forth from the source and returning to the source”.
I’m going to give you one more description because it’s such a beautiful notion.
“Think about the life-giving Sun at the center of our solar system. Imagine all that came before it, going right back to just before the big bang, back to the origin. Imagine all that unfolded since then that are the cause of this present moment and your life, this unique expression of life and nature existing as you. Now think of all the possibilities for love and understanding that exist in you. Imagine this heart of compassion that exists within you is like the warming feel of a spring morning sunrise shedding radiant light awakening all the warmth of compassion that exist in all beings. Now think of actively growing and developing this potential. Think of all the seeds of love and care you could spread across the day, igniting and uniting with the seeds of compassion in others. Think of the ripple effects of this activity and how it can echo through the lives of those you interact and connect with each day. Consider the flow on effects of this activity of compassion, for all life that will come into the warmth of being after you. The Tig-Le of mindfulness within you shedding light and creating the conditions for the growth of the seeds of future goodness in the world. The sun is the source and sphere of all this warm-hearted compassionate energy and life in you now, and it will be the same source of energy shedding the warmth of compassionate care on the lives of those that will come after us. A sharing and cycling of the warmth and energy of mindfulness that nourishes all life”.
All of this is what is meant by the word Tig-Le.
What is a Tig-Le House?
A Tig-Le house is a teaching house, a place for the emergence and nourishing of the seeds of mindfulness and compassionate living within us, supporting us to find our way back recollecting, remembering and regathering with this vital source. Like a single drop in the great ocean of times, places and peoples who in the past have shared the wisdom teachings of the dharma and created the conditions for its continuation and expansion. Through Tig-Le House we continue this tradition, making the teachings accessible in practical and understandable ways so that we can reunite with the essence of Refuge and together contribute to the unfolding of health and peace in each of our lives and in the world. The world is full of Tig-Le’s taking immeasurable shapes and forms, expressed in a myriad of ways.
My family and I established Tig-Le and opened to the community in 2010 following a request from my root teacher Lama Chime Shore of Coorain and The Origins Centre, Balingup, W.A., for me to teach mindfulness and share the universalist buddhadharma tradition. Having spent thirteen years as a formal student from 2006 – 2019 receiving training under Chime’s guidance, I took up this request and in 2010 began teaching firstly at the Centre in Balingup and then through Tig-Le House. I have also received classical training from prominent teachers in the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist tradition who I acknowledge below. Tig-Le House is the vehicle through which I continue the tradition of sharing mindfulness and the dharma teachings and trainings in the universalist approach.
Universalist in the context of mindfulness and buddhadharma refers to the open and all-inclusive nature for the sharing of wisdom teachings amongst peoples that is free from dogma and the exclusions that can arise from hierarchies, institutional structures and the misuse of power. In the universalist dharma tradition teachings and knowledge are shared freely across cultures and peoples from all places and all walks of life in a common accord.
Universalist also refers to acknowledging the peoples, places, times, cultures and traditions in which the wisdoms of the world emerge and are illuminated into human awareness. It includes making these teachings and living practices accessible to all, in support of all lives, all beings, and the world itself. All wisdom arises from the natural world. The wisdom of humanity is to know of the world’s wisdoms and to develop ways of conveying these wisdoms as teachings and cultural practices. It is essential to develop understandable and transmittable methods that are relevant to the people, time and place allowing transmission so wisdom can be enacted, applied within daily life, for the benefit of all. There is a wonderful tradition that is many centuries old, a universalist cross-cultural transmission lineage sharing wisdoms together amongst people in service of calm and peace, the heartfelt wisdom of compassion.
Remaining true to this universalist nature, the teachings shared through Tig-Le have a living transmission lineage and networks that actively work to transcend the real and perceived boundaries of race, ethnicity, religion, politics, wealth, and misconceptions of gender. We maintain an independence from potentially unhelpful forces and influences of unhealthy institutional power and organizational structures that segregate, marginalize and oppress. Universalist approaches to the dharma pass from person to person, openly between peoples, with a heartfelt intent to cultivate a healthy compassionate peaceful human culture.
All teachers and practitioners of mindfulness and the dharma must find connection through study, practice and direct experience forming understanding and finding appropriate expression of the teachings. This happens through the interweaving of our own experiences of the world and life merging with the transmission lineage and formal teachings. Practice and dialogues are essential.
It is important for me to share with you an outline of the specific lineage of dharma transmission I have received, along with other people and places that have had a large bearing and influence on my own lived experience and understanding of the dharma, the world and nature.
My root teacher Lama Chime Shore was a student of the Late Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche – Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche. Rinpoche was a student of Sayadaw U Thila Wunta, Mon Mahathera – Ven. Sayadaw U Thila Wunta in the tradition of Bodaw Aung Min Gaung of the Northern Burmese Weizzer Theravadin forest tradition. Rinpoche also studied extensively as a student of XVI Gyalwa Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje – The Life of the 16th Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist Tradition and the Kham shamans of Eastern Tibet. My own personal experiences of the lineage tradition have come through the teachings of HH XVII Karmapa Thaye Dorje, Lama Choying Rinpoche, Lama Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Ven. Dupon Nyigyam, the Late Ani Minjula, and Ani Tsultrim, of the Chokor Dechen Ling nunnery Rumtek, Sikkim.
Other prominent influences fostering a deep love, bond, an understanding of life, the natural world and the dharma, have come through connection and relationships on country with traditional custodians including as a young boy in the virgin forests on Yued country North of Perth. Working on environmental programs with Miriwoong elders (unnamed out of cultural respects) on country in the Kununurra, Keep River, Lake Argyle, and Purnululu areas of Northern Western Australia. I have been privileged to spend time on country with Muli Muli community members of the Bundjalung Nation in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW, with Menang and Goreng cultural custodians in and around Denmark and Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, and recently with Wadandi Elders of the Margaret River region.
There are many other sources of wisdom and inspiration to all who I offer my deepest of respect. The following are people I read and listen to extensively and include HH the XIV Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, Nelson Mandela, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Kalu Rinpoche, Mary Robinson, Tarchin Hearn, Matthieu Ricard, Vessentara, Nyanaponika Thera, Khandro Rinpoche, Megan Cowan, Bhikkhu Nanamoli, and Chogyam Trungpa.
There are immeasurable sources of wisdom and inspiration that I have received support from over the years through inspiring teachers during my school years and further education, chance meetings with many people, times and places both directly and indirectly related to mindfulness and dharma. I recognize deeply the Sangha of friends and community who have attended Tig-Le, some for many years, sharing in the dialogues that foster mutual respect and a continual development and deeper understanding of the practices revealed through the dialogues and life experiences we all bring. You all become living confirmation of the effectiveness and reach when applying the teachings to daily life. To you, and all the sources of wisdom, my sincere admiration and respect.
Since 2010 through Tig-Le House, and in partnerships with local businesses, I have been able to share mindfulness, meditation, universalist dharma studies and practices in support of the local and broader community. Many people from a wide and diverse range of backgrounds, and from all around the globe have attended sessions at Tig-Le sharing in the teachings and practices that over centuries have been designed to support a unified healthy, calm, coherent and peaceful humanity working for the health and peace of the world and life itself.
I have the privilege and responsibility for supporting many people locally and abroad including individual personal health and wellbeing, families and friends, community groups and their members, the local government and small business sector, local clinical health professionals, along with a diverse community of people faced with the challenges of living a life who are looking for the common ground that a mindful Refuge brings. Working as an independent community resource Tig-Le can offer support to anyone interested in health and peace. Creating partnerships supporting an all-encompassing inclusive health and peace at all levels of experience, no matter how grand or small, all are equally important and valuable.
The wisdom teachings of the dharma tradition handed down and explored in the context of our own contemporary lives are a great gift. In future blogs I will share with you some of these teachings, methods of practice, along with commentaries and guidance on mindfulness and a variety of meditations many of which are shared in-person through our group sessions, retreats and workshops. I will also share excerpts and teachings from traditional dharma studies including Puja’s and Sadhanas we work with as part of our ongoing regular study and practice groups. I will seek to include associated contemplations, teaching supports and guidance. There is much to share, and my hope is that these teachings and practices will be understandable and useful to you in your daily life.
The blog also presents an opportunity to address any questions you may have due to reading these pieces. I receive many questions in class and on retreat that may be helpful to address here relating to mindfulness, the buddhadharma, and Ecodharma perspectives. If in reading these posts you become inspired to ask questions, please send them to me in writing at tiglehouse@gmail.com and I will do my best to reply, sharing my understandings and thoughts along with traditional teachings.
The Buddhadharma teachings are a vast ocean with a complex and diverse range of views, perspectives and beliefs existing. There are many ways to express understanding and knowledge. These writings do not seek to be the ultimate in understanding or knowledge, no perfection is sort or claimed, nor is there any finality to the possibilities and potential within. My main aim is to illuminate practices and teachings through the lens of mindfulness making them comprehendible. Often, I use examples from nature and the natural world as a foundation to share understanding and highlight meaning. Some of the blogs will be easily embraced, calming and supportive, whilst others will stir and challenge existing perspectives, views, and beliefs.
I hope you enjoy the variety of pieces to come, and that I can convey some of the wisdoms and insights I have encountered through study and practice.
ARAHUM – With an intention of a warm strong heart
METTA – And the possibilities for deep friendship
Sincerely,
Ian Hackett – director and presiding teacher at Tig-Le House