Summer Season at Kunsangar South, Crimea

Usually the summer season at Kunsangar South begins in May, when the warm weather comes, the first flowers start to bloom and the wonderful time of retreats begins. This May was no exception, and from the end of April to mid-May, three retreats on learning Vajra dances with instructor Ulyana Sokolova were held at the Gar – a retreat on the Dance of the Song of the Vajra, an open retreat on the Dance for the Benefit of All Sentient Beings, and at the end of the “dance marathon” Kunsangar South joined a corrective retreat with Prima Mai on the dance of Khalongdorjeikar.

Between retreats, life at the Gar also flows quite actively – there are collective practices, joint clean-up days and evening gatherings around the fire!

June at Kunsangar South was spent preparing for the upcoming summer retreats: the Gar’s staff and karma yogis mowed the grass, cleaned the area and set up a new set of showers and toilets at the campsite!

And of course, the most important event of June was the retreat with Yeshi Namkhai. Every day in the Gönpa there were webcasts of the Teachings from Merigar, Vajra Dance practices, and also a weekend retreat on Yantra Yoga with Alexey Shadrov. 

In July the long-awaited 4th group pranayama retreat with Victor Krachkovsky took place at the Gar. During the retreat practitioners were able to deepen their knowledge related to the elements, prana control, breathing, contemplation and, of course, Yantra Yoga. 

August was very vibrant at Kunsangar South. At the beginning of the month there were two retreats – a corrective retreat on the Dance of the Song of the Vajra and a retreat on the Dance of the Three Vajras with Ulyana Sokolova – and as always the mandala was full! 

On 5th August we organized a lunch in memory of Santi Maha Sangha instructor and Ka-Ter translator Elio Guarisco, who visited Kunsangar South twice and did very important and essential retreats here. On the day of Elio’s 70th birthday, on the initiative of practitioners, in particular Elena Shadrova, we prepared a lunch in Italian style with pasta according to Elio’s own recipe. And all those who were at the Gar gathered around one table to recall, share and honor the memory of dear Elio in a very heartfelt and warm atmosphere! 

Also in August there was a sad event – everyone’s favorite cat, Rysya, who had lived at the Gar for 13 years, passed away. Rysya was the first animal that came to the Gar, and as the legend goes, she appeared right after the inauguration of the Gönpa and lay down in the center of the hall, on the place where the original marker was made. Since then, Rysya has been a true guardian and favorite pet of Kunsangar South. We will miss you very much! 

Already on the 10th of August the Gar hosted the next retreat on Santi Maha Sangha with instructor Alexander Gomonov and immediately after it there was another joint retreat of Alexander Gomonov and Yantra Yoga instructor Kirill Mironov. During the retreat there were sessions at the sea and in the mountains, where the participants could do the practices of Longde, integration with elements and contemplation. 

After starting the month with an Italian-style lunch, it was impossible to stop and so all month long there were pizza parties at the Gar! We also managed to eat and have a joint dinner with ‘gifts’ from our own vegetable garden – this year we had a good harvest of vegetables and even had our own melons! 

With the beginning of September ‘Indian summer’ came to the Gar, and with it a series of retreats on Vajra Dance. This year, under the guidance of Adriana Dal Borgo, very important supervisions, teacher trainings and in-depth retreats for future instructors and those wishing to study the dances in depth are taking place. At the Gönpa of Kunsangar South, all those interested in the practice of Vajra Dance, together with instructor Ulyana Sokolova, joined the webcasts and were able to further deepen their knowledge!

In between the dance retreats there was also a retreat with Alexander Gomonov on the practices of Rushen and Semdzin. And the end of the season will conclude with a course on making Namkha with Sergey Antonyan. 

In general, despite all the circumstances, the summer season and the year itself was very active at the Gar – there were in-person and online retreats, joint practices of Vajra Dance, Santi Maha Sangha and Khaita Joyful Dances, Ganapujas, as well as the daily online practices of Ozer Chenma continuously conducted by Yuri Fomichev for more than two years. 

For the second year Kunsangar South continues its co-operation with the School of Tibetan Medicine of the Shang Shung Institute. Vladimir Bakshi, the School’s graduate, regularly conducts appointments for anyone who wishes to come, and masseurs offer sessions of ku-nye massage. 

The Gar is constantly undergoing maintenance and infrastructure improvements. 

Most importantly, Kunsangar South continues to be a place of practice and co-operation for all students of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and Yeshi Namkhai!

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the instructors, karma yogis and practitioners who have come during this challenging time to support the Gar with their energy! We are grateful to our precious Gurus for the opportunity to meet, practice and collaborate in the united space of Kunsangar South! 

We always look forward to seeing you at Kunsangar South!

Elena Sycheva