Simply Being

All times refer to UK time, unless otherwise stated.

 James Low, April 2026 writes: The traditional structure of Buddhist teachings is that each level or vehicle has its own View, Meditation, Activity and Result. Over the years I have focused on making the various views and meditations as clear as possible and you can access these through my many audio and video recordings, books and transcripts.

I feel that our retreats now need to have increasing emphasis on your activity and proactive learning.

We all have a lot of life experience and so how can we mobilise this experience to become an ally on our path instead of an obstacle? Rather than relying on our habitual assumptions and conclusions, our practice is to investigate how our subjectivity arises in different situations. We aim to locate the ground (or basis) for our subjective thoughts, feelings and actions in our simple presence within the ever-open here and now.

I will be teaching in the mornings. In the afternoons there will be small group activities led by experienced members of our sangha. They will offer a  range of activities and I am encouraging you all to try them out so that you can experience what you can make use of (or not) at each moment in time. The key point is for you to observe what arises for you as you engage with each activity in your ever-changing environment.

The aim in dzogchen is to see the self-vanishing of each moment. We do this by ripening our presence without engaging in dualistic reificatory judgement.

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Our Self-Liberating Mind. Teaching weekend & Social Evening. Oxford. Nov 2022

04-11-22 - 06-11-22
James Low
Our Self-Liberating Mind

As people in a complex world we often struggle to free ourselves from habits, situations, beliefs, organisations and so on.  As subjects we are entangled in a world of objects that both support and constrain us. From the point of view of the dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism subject and object, self and other are born together and so our ego self will not be able to break free no matter how hard we try.

However our own mind itself is intrinsically free of all limitations. The path to freedom is not about struggle. Rather we learn to make friends with our own intrinsic presence, collaborating with the actual so that our reliance on the imagined can fade away. Our own mind is inherently self-liberating… we simply need to open to it as it is. 

A short text by Patrul Rinpoche (Chapter 10 in Simply Being) will provide a structure for our enquiry.

Times: Fri and Sat

Times: Sat & Sun

Friday 4th Nov
18:00 – 19:30

Saturday 5th Nov
09.30 to 11.00
11.30 to 13.00

 

14.30 to 16.00
16.30 to 18.00

Sunday 6th Nov
09.30 to 11:00
11.30 to 13.00

END
Costs and Offerings for Teaching:

The prices below cover costs only: venue hire, James’ travel costs, etc.

  • Evening Talk Only: £10
  • Weekend Teaching Sessions (a.m. or p.m): £15 per session (am or pm)
  • Whole Event: £50

In the Buddhist tradition teaching on meditation is offered without charge so there is no fee for the teaching offered this weekend.  

If you wish to offer a donation (dana) to support the work of the teacher and those who help him, then please do so at any point during the event.

Both payment for costs and dana are cash only please on the door
The Venue Is:

The Talbot Hall,
Lady Margaret Hall,
Norham Gardens,
Oxford
OX2 6QA

Please go to  https://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/about-lmh/where-find-us for general information on the venue, travel and parking.

Parking:

Parking options near LMH are limited.

Information on parking in the city centre can be found here. Gloucester Green parking is the nearest city centre parking, about a 15 minute walk from the venue, best to arrive a little early to ensure you find a space. It is expensive, so Park and Ride can be good option if you’re coming from outside Oxford.

We have been offered just a few parking spaces at LMH for those most in need – please email us if you would like to book a place.

Food & Drink

Tea and coffee will be available at the venue. Please feel free to bring water with you to the venue.

Any food must be consumed outside of Talbot Hall.

There are a host of restaurants/cafes within walking distance of LMH, especially on the local streets North Parade, Little Clarendon Street, and St Giles, as well as in Oxford City Centre. The Trip Advisor map available here can be of help.
Saturday Eve Gathering: Please Book ASAP
Organic Farm & Gardens & Tibetan Music with Ngawang LodupAfter discussing a number of options, James is very much in favour of going to our nearby and friendly organic farm and gardens. It’s a chance for us to be together, enjoy ourselves and get to know each other a little better, James will be attending.

There will be a great organic meal available at £12 (meat and veggie – special rate for us), good well priced organic wines and drinks and some wonderful traditional Tibetan nomadic singing with Ngawang Lodup from Amdo Tibet, who, among many other things, has performed at Womad and even for the Dalai Lama (bio below).

The farm is just to the north of Oxford (see map here), so you will either need to drive there or we can organise taxis for people to share. The cost of a shared taxi would be approximately £5 per head (it’s about a 15 minute drive from LMH).

Please let me know ASAP if you intend to come along, and if you need a ride to the venue. We need to organise food & drink etc with the farmer and so need an idea of numbers! It will be great to see you there!

All the very best to you all and til soon,

Gio

 

Ngawang Lodup is a well-known Tibetan Mountain and folk singer, singing Traditional Tibetan nomadic ballads and contemporary folk songs on electric Mandolin and Dramnyen lute.Ngawang was born and raised in the Amdo region of Tibet, in the north-eastern corner of the Tibetan High Plateau. He learnt his unique repertoire of mountain songs from early childhood, listening to his mother singing while tending yak and sheep herds. Music became a crucial element of his everyday life, especially when his brothers instructed him in the ancient art of the Dramnyen six-string lute. As he grew older, he also learnt to play Mandolin and electric Mandolin, both during his five-year stint in a monastery and after.

Since he settled in the UK in 2004, Ngawang has performed across Europe and the UK, including Womad, BBC radio and at the O2 arena for the Dalai Lama.
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Details

Organiser

  • Gio Maschio
  • Email oxfordinternalarts@gmail.com

Venue