Research process
“Sangha App and the Dzogchen Community” is a qualitative research carried out between May and July 2024.
Here at Sangha App, we considered crucial to understand practitioners’ experiences and needs. This can enable us to create the virtual space for their practice to thrive.
People act on the basis of what they perceive is true, based on their own experience. We consider that the views and the experiences of practitioners are very important. Our capacity, as a group, to keep the transmission alive and to continue to apply the teachings of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu depends on our experiences.
Thus, the interviews were focused on people’s stories and the meanings that they attribute to their experiences. This means that the number of people that said this or that is irrelevant. Because of the small but well-chosen sample, we can consider that all mentioned points are relevant. They give an in-depth description of our experience in the community, from different points of view.
Our research included 15 practitioners of the Dzogchen Community, as follows:
- 7 practitioners aged 25-70 years old; 4 men and 3 women, living in different countries (1 Russian, 2 Romanian, 1 Italian, 1 Czech, 1 Slovak, 1 French);
- 4 of them were interviewed in occasion of Yeshi’s retreat;
- 1 never installed Sangha App, 1 uses it very little, 2 use it weekly, 2 use it on a daily basis, 1 is a content creator;
- 1 practitioner took transmission with Yeshi Namkhai, while the others with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu;
- 2 of them took the base level Santi Maha Sangha exam and are still completing the practices.
The second category, of the Gakyils and teachers, is composed as follows:
- 8 Blue Gakyils and teachers, aged 37-70; 5 women and 3 men; different nationalities of origin and living if different countries (1 Romania, 1 Spain, 2 Germany, 1 Austria, 1 Latvia, 1 Italy, 1 Russia);
- Among the Gakyils, 4 of them were Gakyil three times or more (1 is Gar Gakyil, the rest are ling gakyils);
- 4 of them are at the same time Gakyil and instructors;
- 2 of them are or were in the board of international organisations;
- Roles as teachers: 2 teach Vajra Dance, 1 – Khaita, 2 – Yantra Yoga, 1 – Santi Maha Sangha;
- 4 of them passed the Santi Maha Sangha Base exam and all of them are doing the practices of the Base.
We are aware that the sample is unbalanced towards a European perspective, and hope that we will have your collaboration in the future, to reach members from other continents. If you want to tell your story we would be happy to hear about it! Please contact us.
The interviews took place face to face, by telephone, or by zoom. They had an average duration of one hour and were recorded. The data was analysed anonymously.
You can read about the results in various places: