Approaching Non-Duality. [EN] Todtmoos 04.2026

James Low's Dzogchen retreat "Approaching Non-Duality" took place 23rd-26th April 2026 in Todtmoos, Germany.

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

He continues: "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."

The retreat featured morning teachings by James Low, with afternoon small group activities led by experienced sangha members. The aim in Dzogchen is to see the self-vanishing of each moment by ripening our presence without engaging in dualistic reificatory judgement.

Organiser and German translation: Robert Jaroslawski
Cover art: Jari Lobo (Pexels.com)

More information: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/approaching-non-duality-todtmoos-april-2026/

Watch the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vE2tZ5MsTI

Chapters
00:00 Form is Emptiness: The Heart Sutra and Non-Duality

07:54 The Five Poisons and Self-Deception

16:07 Wisdom and Compassion Flowing from Emptiness

29:25 Death Comes from Concepts

37:16 Two Paths from One Ground

45:08 The Three Kayas in Tantric Practice

52:35 Sambhogakaya: Enjoyment of Sensory Arising

1:00:36 The Eight Consciousnesses as Empty Forms

1:10:05 The Dzogchen View: Already Complete

1:16:59 The Delusion of Taking Becoming to Be Being

1:21:34 Critique of Self-Existent Phenomena

1:26:33 Clear Perception and Responding to Suffering

1:30:01 The Three Statements of Garab Dorje

1:34:19 Ngotro: Introduction to Your Own Face

1:38:19 Following the Stream to Its Source

1:45:04 Samsara and Nirvana: No Fundamental Difference

1:48:43 Guru Yoga of Machig Labdrön

1:55:06 Five Questions on the Nature of Mind

2:01:51 The Two Obscurations

2:07:58 Impermanence and the Vulnerability of Form

2:18:08 Twelve Metaphors for Emptiness and Form

2:22:40 Wandering Without Identity: The Sadhu Practice

2:29:09 The First Unawareness: Condensation from the Flow

2:42:06 The Third Unawareness: Conceptual Fixation and Naming

2:47:19 The Fourth Unawareness: Karma and Its Four Stages

2:57:06 Interdependence and the environment as inseparable support

3:06:19 Openness to experience beyond ego judgment

3:14:31 Emptiness as openness beyond fixed essence

3:22:15 Self-Deception and the Illusion of Fixed Identity

3:29:51 The three aspects of energy: dang, rolpa and tsal

3:38:35 Rolpa: The Mirror and the Play of Experience

3:44:24 Tsal: The Crystal and Manifesting Diversity

3:50:05 The Cuckoo's Cry: non-duality of experience and nature