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Gésar Training is an integrated system of Horseriding, Warriorship, Tactile Responsiveness, and Training in the nature of Mind. The primary emphasis of the training is on cultivating bravery and kindness. Bravery enables us to move beyond our perceived personal limits, and creates the space in which real kindness may manifest. In order to be brave, we must be careful – because without care, bravery becomes bravado and recklessness. Care is grounded in awareness, but must also be informed by knowledge of situations and systems. We develop care by cultivating skill, and the primary impediment to this cultivation is confusion concerning the relationship between Mind and Body. Gésar Training therefore provides a complete system for understanding and deepening understanding of how Mind and Body function together – mediated by Vivacity, the communicative vigor which joins them.

Ling Gésar was the realized warrior king whose deeds are celebrated throughout the Himalayas as the embodiment of compassionate activity. For this reason, the tradition of Gésar as a form of practice exists within many lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism. Although Gésar Training does not imply or require any religious affiliation, an understanding of the nature of Mind cannot be disconnected from the view of basic goodness which prioritizes kindness and awareness as the highest virtues. Ling Gésar is always portrayed on horseback. The horse is a symbol of Windhorse, the sophisticated energy of accomplishment that is the result of a warrior or a rider’s authentic training. This fundamentally decent energy can be discovered through any activity engaged in with the mind of a warrior – but Gésar Training is unique in working directly with the symbolic elements of Ling Gésar as the ideal methods of integrating Mind, Vivacity, and Body.

The five natural elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space – are the basis of the world around us, our bodies, our psychology, emotions, and visionary capacity. When we understand our relationship to the phenomenal world, we realize that we cannot separate ourselves from our environment – because the elements move transparently through us as the emotional-energetic texture of our existence. Each element can be distorted as the result of confusion, and each branch of Gésar Training focuses on clarifying the distortions of a particular element – while still working with all the elements together. This inseparability of the elements is indicative of the mutually-supportive nature of the training, and although students may specialize in one area, lateral training is encouraged – and ultimately necessary – in order to move beyond the limitations of a compartmentalized approach. How far or how fast students travel must be an individual decision, predicated upon personal bravery and inspiration.

The elements are arranged according to their association with the cardinal directions – symbolic of their all-encompassing nature, but also indicating the manner in which aspects of training overlap with and complement one another.

At the root of all authentic warrior arts lies a way of using the body which is unusual and counter to conditioned instinct. Although, once trained, this strength-skill is authentically natural – its application is distinct from ‘normal’ movement. The ability to express the Earth’s solidity is dependent on the ability to relax completely – to allow the body to be apparently empty and insubstantial. This seeming contradiction underlies tob-tsal, Ground Radiance / Strength – which can only be understood through hands-on contact. This contact takes the form of a paired dynamic – through which tactile knowledge/capacity is communicated. Once the principle of tob-tsal is firmly grasped, an unshakeable physical confidence develops.

Tob-tsal is complemented by nam-tsal, Sky Radiance / Strength, which provides the unique connective capacity which allows the practitioner to move in a unified manner, and to transmit force throughout the body. When tob-tsal and nam-tsal are cultivated and skillfully mixed, the result is simply tsal – the tangible manifestation of Mind. The goal of Tactile Responsiveness Training is to discover and deepen the dimension in which tsal manifests in dynamic connection with rolpa, playfulness / vivacity. This dynamic connection permits real communication and provides an optimal framework for stagnant rLung (internal energy, connected with the breath) to flow – and this makes Tactile Responsiveness Training an ideal practice for health and vitality. By coming to directly understand our own condition, we become able to ‘heal’ ourselves of many complaints whose causes are structural, ‘energetic’, or psycho-somatic.

As familiarity with the cooperative paired dynamic develops – the dimension of that dynamic provides a rich field of tactile exchange – through which direct experience of the elements may be communicated. This non-verbal tactile responsiveness eventually becomes the primary mode of instruction and training – whether human-human or human-equine; and it is the encouragement to enter into the tactile vision of the equine-equine dynamic which lends Gésar Training its unique character.

Aggression is the distorted quality of the water element, and it is directly addressed by training in Warriorship. Initially, aggression must be pacified in one’s being, and this is accomplished through allowing the body to remain relaxed – even when subjected to apparently stressful physical circumstances. In order to accomplish this, the paired physical dynamic of Tactile Responsiveness Training is extended into the realm of method associated with conflict. This allows the development of powerful but non-aggressive responses which – because of the dynamic spontaneity already cultivated – are naturally appropriate and effective in responding to aggression. In this way, the practice of the Warrior is to relax into fear, thereby authenticating and potentiating the forceful action which circumstances of life sometimes require. It is extremely important that the practice of Warriorship be based on a clear understanding of this principle – so that neither overt nor passive aggression is allowed to flourish. As a result of increased physical clarity, the Warrior necessarily discovers his protective rôle as a servant of society – through understanding the problems associated with aggression and knowing implicitly how to resolve them directly.

Isolation is the distorted quality of the fire element, and whether we respond to the sense of isolation by emphasizing it through artificial distance, or by craving contact, we cannot eliminate it without coming to terms with it. The nature of horseriding makes it an ideal practice for discovering the dimension in which we unify – at a tactile-perceptual level – with another being. In order for this elevated goal to be realistic, however, we must be capable of expressing tsal (radiance / strength) in conjunction with our experience of rolpa (playfulness / vivacity). We must also be capable of remaining relaxed in the face of fear – because unexpected events will undoubtedly arise while riding, and an unskillful expression of tension may well trigger a further response from the horse – initiating a vicious cycle.

If, however, through our understanding of Earth and Water, we can meet these requirements – we may be able to unify with the horse, and to give direction which is positively resonant. When we extend the cooperative dynamic with which we have educated ourselves to include our relationship with the horse, we realize that – at an essential level – we are not different. Both horse and rider require training to release their habitual elemental distortions; but through harmonious association, this ongoing training is mutually accomplished.

Confusion is the distorted quality of the space element, and we normally react to it by retracting from the sense fields. The way of releasing this retraction is to integrate with the sense fields – in order to remain open, and therefore to understand situations as they arise. The methods of the three series of Dzogchen provide an invaluable support to the more overtly pragmatic methods associated with the other trainings. Likewise, the teachings on reality contain extraordinarily precise descriptions of the nature of Mind, and these descriptions are of great value in dissolving, disorienting, and exploding our habitually confused conceptual patterns.

Whereas Training in Tactile Responsiveness initially emphasizes the aspect of experience exemplified by tob-tsal (earth radiance), the psycho-physical exercises of sKu-mNyé (pronounced: koo mnyay) emphasize nam-tsal (sky radiance). The highly remarkable, rhythmic physical movements massage the spatial nerves and stimulate flow of rLung. As a result, practitioners discover vivid experiences of the elements in the area outside the body – much as vivid meteorological phenomena can be seen in the sky. The movements themselves provide startling access to the dimension of the elements through the vision of the five animals (lion, vulture, tiger, eagle, and garuda) – and the character of these animals’ movement is of great value in enacting the methods of the other trainings.

Groundless anxiety is the distorted quality of the air element, and to a greater or lesser extent, we exhibit paranoia and paralysis in response to anxiety. Each of the other branches of training provides a vital element which supports greater and greater connection with the rLung, our natural motility, as the horse we might ride. By relating freely, according to the level of one’s personal bravery, to the range of training opportunities available, the student of Windhorse moves beyond hesitation and anxiety – to discover the extraordinary kyil’khor (Sanskrit: mandala; center and periphery) of Ling Gésar.

Ling, the Kingdom of which the historical Gésar was ruler, literally means ‘place’. Beyond its meaning as a physical locale, the word connotes an experiential domain – the psycho-physical region within which a given ethos, gestalt, ambience, or parameter manifests.

Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, Mind Lineage Holders of the Aro gTér, have given the name ‘Gésar Ling’ to our beautiful facility, which is also our home. They have asked me to offer the Gésar Warrior training which has evolved hand-in-hand with my practice of Vajrayana Buddhism, and that is how Gésar Training has come to be made available.

Even though I have much to learn, and my skills are still poor; I am excited by the possibility of presenting what I can of the quintessential transmission I have received. I make no claims of technical accomplishment, but I have discovered the space in which Ling Gésar shines out from behind every rock as the constant incitement to greater bravery, care, skill, and playfulness in the never-ending war to end aggression. I hope that good people with whom these qualities resonate will visit Gésar Ling and contribute their energy. I am busy raising and training young horses, and it would be a pleasure to train with you – perhaps even to raise Windhorse together.