Sacred Vision - Francesca Fremantle

Service Description

Session 1: Sacred Vision Session via Zoom or viewing on the big screen (Nyima Tashi) Synopsis: In meditation we can reach a state of mind where time and space collapse, and from which spontaneous action arises. This place is the source of all inspiration and creativity, and whatever flows from it is an expression of art in the truest sense. Great works of art engage our whole being, intellectual, emotional and sensual, in order to reveal an inner significance beyond the words, colours or sounds themselves, just as Trungpa Rinpoche’s teachings on sacred vision show us how to transform our ordinary perception of the world into the enlightened perception of a Buddha’s Pure Land. This is universal Dharma, not belonging to any religion, nation or age, but accessible to all. Bio: Born January 3rd, 1941, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Francesca received a BA in Sanskrit at SOAS, University of London, her studies including a period of several months at the Sanskrit College in Kolkata, followed by a PhD for a study of the Guhyasamaja Tantra, which necessitated learning classical Tibetan. During this time, she also trained in the Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam and took part in performances throughout the UK. In 1969 she met Chögyam Trungpa and immediately recognised him as her guru. After he moved to N. America she spent several years living in Boulder, Colorado, studying with him. They collaborated on a new translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which was published in 1975. Her second book, Luminous Emptiness, was published in 2001. She contributed a chapter to Recalling Chögyam Trungpa, by Fabrice Midal, and a Foreword to Rigdzin Shikpo’s book, Never Turn Away. Numerous translations, poems, articles and book reviews have appeared in publications such as Buddhism Now, The Middle Way, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and Shambhala Sun. During the 1990’s she joined the Longchen Foundation, which was founded by Rigdzin Shikpo at the request of Trungpa Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Following Rigdzin Shikpo’s death in 2023 she is now engaged, together with his other senior students, in continuing his teachings.