Pema Khandro and Buddhist Yogis News Archive
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What is the “Dakini” in Dakini Mountain?Pema Khandro discusses the 5 Dakini’s as the Five Elements in Nature during the interview clip below. Click Here to watch the video. Today is Giving Tuesday – please Donate Now! |
Shoreline, Washington Santa Cruz, California Dakini Mountain – Nevada City, California |
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BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES Ngakpa.org Copyright Ⓒ 2019 |
  Dear Friends and Members, Dakini Mountain is a new Buddhist Center focused on the timeless Buddhist values of Harmony, Healing and Compassion within a modern context of Gender Equality, Celebration of Diversity and Ecological Sustainability. Dakini Mountain is the international retreat center of Ngakpa International founded by Pema Khandro Rinpoche. Ngakpa International is dedicated to making in-depth Buddhist education accessible and available to anyone who wants to study. This is offered through a combination of online and in-person classes, trainings, retreats, one-on-one mentoring,and holistic healing programs. Dakini Mountain is the main event location.  Power Centers have long been a primary focus in the tradition of the Buddhist teachings – places consecrated and dynamically charged by potent Buddhist practices to foster experiences of inspiration and higher awareness that can change a person’s life and change the course of the culture, country and world wherein they are established.
Pema Khandro introduced the vision of Dakini Mountain as a power center of Vajrayogini, the female Tantric Buddha, saying, “Vajrayogini is the symbol of an alternate form of power that is under-represented in our time – the power of altruistic love. She is the ultimate symbol of gender inclusivity as a female Buddha who embodies innate wisdom and disrupts confusion through fiery insight. Vajrayogini is venerated in every sect of Tibetan Buddhism and appears in the legends of the great masters of Buddhism as a catalyst towards awakening.” Dakini Mountain will house a Vajrayogini statue that has been made and consecrated in Boudha, Nepal. It will be installed and blessed during the Dakini Mountain grand opening celebration on May 31st, 2020. This vision for Dakini Mountain will only happen with the effort, dedication and the support of many people. Will you be one of those people? Will you help make Dakini Mountain a reality now and in the years ahead? Thanks to people like you who have already supported Dakini Mountain, it is becoming a reality! Escrow was closed on February 22 of this year, 2019. Hooray! It was a long-awaited, major accomplishment. Thank you so much for your support! Now more support is needed to usher in the second phase of infrastructure. Dakini Mountain is a pristine, mountainous, 35 acre parcel that already came with a valuable foundation of infrastructure, including a beautiful lodge, pond and grassy meadow. This bounty has already made it possible to have 3 retreats take place in 2019 – a great and auspicious beginning! Now, more infrastructure, new buildings, and support is critically needed for Dakini Mountain to continue. Help Dakini Mountain and its values of Harmony, Healing, Compassion, Gender Equality, Diversity and Ecological Sustainability flourish!! Phase 2: Building a Power Center
Phase 2 Goals $354,700 Total, including the following: $100,000 – Solar System Upgrade. Dakini Mountain is completely off the grid. Doubling the capacity of the current system is needed for hosting larger groups. $15,000 – Fire Clearing. Northern California is a very high fire risk zone. Brush clearing must be extensive and maintained to protect all structures. $40,000 – Government Use Permits. Local government laws and ordinances require a comprehensive permitting process. $36,600 – Annual Insurance, Property Tax, and Propane Fees. $6000 – 2019 Lodge and Facilities Upgrades. $79,600 – Guest Cabin for teachers to come lead events including Pema Khandro Rinpoche, guest Lamas, other teachers and guests. $7,500 – Installation of Vajrayogini statue and shrine to celebrate the feminine in Buddhism and foster the ideals of gender equality, harmony and compassion. $69,000 – Other infrastructure expenses for 2019-2020 classes and retreats including website development and hosting, online meeting costs, accounting, printing, and other insurance needs. Special Gift – Vajrayogini Print
For gifts of $5000 and above, donors will receive a print replica of this rare and beautiful Vajrayogini painting.
Please donate now at: Or mail a check to: All of your donations are Tax Deductible |
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BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES Ngakpa.org Copyright Ⓒ 2019 |
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Dear Friends and Members, Dakini Mountain is a new Buddhist Center focused on the timeless Buddhist values of Harmony, Healing and Compassion within a modern context of Gender Equality, Celebration of Diversity and Ecological Sustainability. Dakini Mountain is the international retreat center of Ngakpa International founded by Pema Khandro Rinpoche. Ngakpa International is dedicated to making in-depth Buddhist education accessible and available to anyone who wants to study. This is offered through a combination of online and in-person classes, training, retreats, one-on-one mentoring, and holistic healing programs. Dakini Mountain is the main event location. It is also a Buddhist Power Center of Vajrayogini, the female Tantric Buddha. Power Centers have long been a primary focus in the tradition of the Buddhist teachings – places consecrated and dynamically charged by potent Buddhist practices to foster experiences of inspiration and higher awareness that can change a person’s life and change the course of the culture, country and world wherein they are established.
Pema Khandro introduced the vision of Dakini Mountain as a power center of Vajrayogini, the female Tantric Buddha, saying, “Vajrayogini is the symbol of an alternate form of power that is under-represented in our time – the power of altruistic love. She is the ultimate symbol of gender inclusivity as a female Buddha who embodies innate wisdom and disrupts confusion through fiery insight. Vajrayogini is venerated in every sect of Tibetan Buddhism and appears in the legends of the great masters of Buddhism as a catalyst towards awakening.” Dakini Mountain will house a Vajrayogini statue that has been made and consecrated in Boudha, Nepal. It will be installed and blessed during the Dakini Mountain Grand Opening Celebration on May 31st, 2020. This vision for Dakini Mountain will only happen with the effort, dedication, and support of many people. Will you be one of those people? Will you help make Dakini Mountain a reality now and in the years ahead Thanks to people like you who have already supported Dakini Mountain, it is becoming a reality! Escrow was closed on February 22 of this year, 2019. Hooray! It was a long-awaited, major accomplishment. Thank you so much for your support! Now more support is needed to usher in the second phase of infrastructure. Dakini Mountain is a pristine, mountainous, 35 acre parcel that already came with a valuable foundation of infrastructure, including a beautiful lodge, pond and grassy meadow. This bounty has already made it possible to have 3 retreats take place in 2019 – a great and auspicious beginning! Now, more infrastructure, new buildings, and support is critically needed for Dakini Mountain to continue. Help Dakini Mountain and its values of Harmony, Healing, Compassion, Gender Equality, Diversity and Ecological Sustainability flourish!! Phase 2: Building a Power Center Phase 2 Goals $100,000 – Solar System Upgrade. Dakini Mountain is completely off the grid. Doubling the capacity of the current system is needed for hosting larger groups. $15,000 – Fire Clearing. Northern California is a very high fire risk zone. Brush clearing must be extensive and maintained to protect all structures. $40,000 – Government Use Permits. Local government laws and ordinances require a comprehensive permitting process. $36,600 – Annual Insurance, Property Tax, and Propane Fees. $6000 – 2019 Lodge and Facilities Upgrades. $79,600 – Guest Cabin for teachers to come lead events including Pema Khandro Rinpoche, guest Lamas, other teachers, and guests. $7,500 – Installation of Vajrayogini statue and shrine to celebrate the feminine in Buddhism and foster the ideals of gender equality, harmony, and compassion. $69,000 – Other infrastructure expenses for 2019-2020 classes and retreats including website development and hosting, online meeting costs, accounting, printing, and other insurance needs. Special Gift – Vajrayogini Print
For gifts of $5000 and above, donors will receive a print replica of this rare and beautiful Vajrayogini painting. Pema Khandro Rinpoche has said of this particular thangka that it is the most exquisite Vajrayogini thangka she has ever seen. Please donate now at: Or mail a check to: All of your donations are Tax Deductible |
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BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES Ngakpa.org Copyright Ⓒ 2019 |
 Meditation Instructor Training – Online Sept 14 – Oct 19, 2019 The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives. Certification Course Format21 Video Lessons & 21 Video Practice Sessions Weekly Exams Daily Journal Weekly Workshop – Live Online Meditation Instructor Manual Teaching Practicum in an Underserved Community Final Transmission & Graduation – Live Online ► Click Here For Full Curriculum and Schedule
Pema Khandro first taught the course in 2001. She has developed an online version of the course in order to give support and deep training to friends and students around the world, who may not be able to travel to attend in person. The c About the TrainingThe training includes a study of the postures for meditation, breathing techniques, the five key meditation techniques from Zhine, (also known “Calm Abiding), common obstacles to meditation, remedies for obstacles of meditation and more. We will also review the most important Buddhist teachings to support meditation practice – looking to the wealth of Buddhist philosophy for new perspectives on what is mind, how to work with thoughts and emotions, what is the body-mind connection and how body and mind can be harnessed for awakening. |
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BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES Ngakpa.org
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Copyright Ⓒ 2019
Ngakpa International • PO Box 2396 • Nevada City, CA • USA
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The Innermost Heart of Freedom August 20 – 25, 2019 This is the fifth Annual Dzogchen Retreat, five days of Buddhist meditation practices that will surprise you with the wonderful power and expansiveness of mind. While deeply resting and supporting your body, you will experience Zhine and Semdzin, profound awareness holding techniques of Tibet’s Great Perfection teachings, Dzogchen. These are practices which include meditation on the five elements, are integrated with the extraordinary natural setting – the stunning landscape of Dakini Mountain, in Northern California’s Tahoe National Forest. The mountain, forest, and pond will give you the chance to rest and play in body and mind. The practice and teachings will focus on the Tibetan Buddhist master Longchenpa’s Finding Comfort and Ease.
The retreat will include three practice sessions a day, Buddhist Philosophy teachings, Tibetan Yoga and free time for introspection and connection.About the Teacher  The Dzogchen Retreat will be led by beloved Buddhist scholar and teacher, Pema Khandro Rinpoche. Pema Khandro is the founder of Ngakpa International, Dakini Mountain Retreat Center and three residential centers. She holds a master’s degree in Tibetan Studies and is completing a PhD specializing in Tibetan Buddhism. Ordained in the Nyingma lineage, enthroned as a tulku, and trained as an academic, Pema Khandro’s teachings celebrate the dynamic coalescence of tradition and the modern context. |
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The Heart Sutra with Pema Khandro August 16, 7pm The Heart Sutra contains the essence of esoteric Buddhist philosophy and it addresses the biggest questions of life from |
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 Meditation Instructor Training – Online Sept 14 – Oct 19, 2019 The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives. |
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 Open Teaching: Excellent Path to Enlightenment 4th Wednesdays of Each Month Pema Khandro offers an open-free online guided meditation |
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 2nd Wednesdays at 6pm A 30 minute Guided meditation and discussion with Pema Khandro. This class is free and open to Buddhist Yogis Sangha Members only. Dzogchen is an esoteric Tibetan Buddhist Teaching that focuses on waking up to the goodness and wisdom within every human being. In the tradition of Buddhist Yogis, we prioritize the integration of this natural goodness with the full range of life experiences – so spiritual work does not disengage us from the world, it equips us to live more wakefully within it. |
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Skillful Means Training 2nd Wednesdays, Aug 14 & Sept 11, 6:45pm PT Bring your Buddhist wisdom to your interpersonal relationships. Skillful means is a Buddhist term to describe wisdom in action on the most practical level. The course is based on Pema Khandro’s popular course, Practitioner Training, a series of lessons in the pragmatic techniques needed to live a sane, wakeful life. This is an online intensive training closed for Vajra Sangha only. |
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 Member Videos and Recordings April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 |
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 2019 Year at a Glance Nevada City Tahoe National Forest Online Khandro Ling, Virginia *We weren’t able to get Chodpa Kunzang Dorje’s passport while in Nepal, so dates for his visit are still TDB. We will update you as soon as we have any news. |
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2019 Weekly Online Classes with Pema Khandro 1st Wed – Vajrayana Training |
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Meditation Mondays 6:00pm PT with Janak Kimmel 1st Mon – Presence as the Path Presence as the Path is Open to All Buddhist Yogis Sangha Members |
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Dakini Mountain Grand Opening Retreat with Pema Khandro: May 26-31, 2020 |
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BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES Ngakpa.org
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Copyright Ⓒ 2019
Ngakpa International • PO Box 2396 • Nevada City, CA • USA
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The Heart Sutra with Pema Khandro August 16, 7pm The Heart Sutra contains the essence of esoteric Buddhist philosophy and it addresses the biggest questions of life from |
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The Innermost Heart of Freedom August 20 – 25, 2019 This is the fifth Annual Dzogchen Retreat, five days of Buddhist meditation practices that will surprise you with the wonderful power and expansiveness of mind. While deeply resting and supporting your body, you will experience Zhine and Semdzin, profound awareness holding techniques of Tibet’s Great Perfection teachings, Dzogchen. These are practices which include meditation on the five elements, are integrated with the extraordinary natural setting – the stunning landscape of Dakini Mountain, in Northern California’s Tahoe National Forest. The mountain, forest, and pond will give you the chance to rest and play in body and mind. The practice and teachings will focus on the Tibetan Buddhist master Longchenpa’s Finding Comfort and Ease.
The retreat will include three practice sessions a day, Buddhist Philosophy teachings, Tibetan Yoga and free time for introspection and connection.About the Teacher The Dzogchen Retreat will be led by beloved Buddhist scholar and teacher, Pema Khandro Rinpoche. Pema Khandro is the founder of Ngakpa International, Dakini Mountain Retreat Center and three residential centers. She holds a master’s degree in Tibetan Studies and is completing a PhD specializing in Tibetan Buddhism. Ordained in the Nyingma lineage, enthroned as a tulku, and trained as an academic, Pema Khandro’s teachings celebrate the dynamic coalescence of tradition and the modern context. |
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Meditation Instructor Training – Online Sept 14 – Oct 19, 2019 The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives. |
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Open Teaching: Excellent Path to Enlightenment 4th Wednesdays of Each Month Pema Khandro offers an open-free online guided meditation |
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2nd Wednesdays at 6pm A 30 minute Guided meditation and discussion with Pema Khandro. This class is free and open to Buddhist Yogis Sangha Members only. Dzogchen is an esoteric Tibetan Buddhist Teaching that focuses on waking up to the goodness and wisdom within every human being. In the tradition of Buddhist Yogis, we prioritize the integration of this natural goodness with the full range of life experiences – so spiritual work does not disengage us from the world, it equips us to live more wakefully within it. |
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Skillful Means Training – for Vajra Sangha Members 2nd Wednesdays, Aug 14 & Sept 11, 6:45pm PT Bring your Buddhist wisdom to your interpersonal relationships. Skillful means is a Buddhist term to describe wisdom in action on the most practical level. The course is based on Pema Khandro’s popular course, Practitioner Training, a series of lessons in the pragmatic techniques needed to live a sane, wakeful life. This is an online intensive training closed for Vajra Sangha only. |
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Member Videos and Recordings April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 |
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2019 Year at a Glance Nevada City Tahoe National Forest Online Khandro Ling, Virginia *We weren’t able to get Chodpa Kunzang Dorje’s passport while in Nepal, so dates for his visit are still TDB. We will update you as soon as we have any news. |
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2019 Weekly Online Classes with Pema Khandro 1st Wed – Vajrayana Training |
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Meditation Mondays 6:00pm PT with Janak Kimmel 1st Mon – Presence as the Path Presence as the Path is Open to All Buddhist Yogis Sangha Members |
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Dakini Mountain Grand Opening Retreat with Pema Khandro: May 26-31, 2020 |
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BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES Ngakpa.org
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Copyright Ⓒ 2019
Ngakpa International • PO Box 2396 • Nevada City, CA • USA
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The Radiance Retreat
July 25 – 28, 2019 at Dakini Mountain
Free your body of deep-seated toxins and undigested material.
Far deeper than fasting can go, this weekend retreat will guide you in how to safely uproot the toxins that are buried in your system. You will be guided through a traditional cleanse based on the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese, and Himalayan Medicine. The retreat also includes bliss yoga, meditation, organic vegetarian meals, digital detox, silence, and communion with nature for a holistic mind-body renewal.
2019 Year at a Glance Online Training – Open to Vajra Sangha
July 25-28 – Detox & Rejuvenation Retreat Aug 21-25 – Dzogchen Retreat: The Innermost Heart of Freedom Online Training
Sept 14 -Oct 4 – Meditation Instructor Training Khandro Ling, Virginia
Oct 8-13 – Vajra Sangha Retreat with Pema Khandro Oct 15-17 – Group Leader Training Online Training
Nov (dates TBA) – Bodhisattva Training San Diego, CA
Nov 21 – Public Teaching with Pema Khandro Rinpoche |
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2019 Weekly Online Classes with Pema Khandro 1st Wed – Vajrayana Training 2nd Wed – Dzogchen Day for Members 3rd Wed – Ngakpa Seminary 4th Wed – Open Teaching – Free for the Public 4th Wed – Ngakpa Training Level 1, Open to Vajra Sangha, 6:45pm PT |
 Meditation MondaysWeekly Online Meditation and Discussion Groups 6pm PT / 9pm ET with Janak Kimmel 1st Mon – Presence as the Path 2nd Mon – Vajrayana LIVE 3rd Mon – Presence as the Path 4th Mon – Chod Group Practice |
Dear Friends and Members,
I am overjoyed to write to you in these days before our first retreat at Dakini Mountain.
If you have not heard it yet, due to incredible support, we were able to close escrow on Dakini Mountain. Therefore it begins. A new era is dawning.
Dakini Mountain will be our Buddhist retreat center devoted to gender equality and celebrating diversity. I will lead a gathering from June 7th-9th for a Dzogchen meditation retreat and our first time practicing together on the land. I invite you to join me for this special weekend of meditation, mantras, prayers, music, and blessing the land as we celebrate our accomplishment.
This is also the twentieth anniversary of our school. I have been teaching since I was a teenager so these anniversaries carry for me a sense of my own journey as a teacher. I am coming to this land after a long journey since my first dream of founding Dakini Mountain. I am also coming to this land as an indigenous person reclaiming land that long ago was used as an annual gathering place of many tribes. This is why for both personal reasons and with a feeling of calling on support from the ancestors, calling on the Dakinis of the elements and calling on the wisdom from our lineage, I will teach Invoking the 100,000 Dakinis. I feel overjoyed to share this with you and also it feels deeply personal to do so. This is a Vajrayogini prayer from the Khandro Nyingthig, the Dakinis Heart Essence that has continued to be chanted since the fourteenth century. It appears in part of the Precious Garland Chod cycle but originated in the early Dzogchen texts of our lineage. I have usually chanted this as a prayer in grave moments to awaken resilience and courage. But I have never taught it before because I was waiting for Dakini Mountain. This weekend, I will finally teach it and we will chant it in the meadow. I will lead Dzogchen meditation in the rolling hills and forest, and we will have the great luxury and blessing of being together at Dakini Mountain.
Recently I have been reflecting on the power of group meditation practice – listening to others, chanting together with others, sharing with others, sitting silently together, praying for peace together. It can be deeply healing to do group retreat. It is well known that our meditation practice is often deeper in group retreats, but something less well known is the effect of group meditation on healing ourselves from traumas…..
This retreat will set in motion a year of moving in, building, grooming the land, fundraising and accumulating many millions of mantras as we prepare for our grand opening ceremony which will be May 27- May 31st, 2020. At that time we will install the Vajrayogini which will be the presiding deity of the land.
Our weekend on June 7th-9th is an opportunity for us to celebrate our accomplishment in a gathering of members, friends and supporters, for us to pray together and share our aspirations for this beautiful land and for a new era.
Like a flag, suddenly hoisted into the sky, Dakini Mountain will be a declaration of the dignity and beauty of all beings.
Buddhist philosophy has tremendous potential to support gender equality through our teaching of persons without fixed essences and all persons endowed with buddha-nature. Female, male, non-binary, Cis-gender, LGBTQI, trans-gender, beyond gender, religious, non-religious, Buddhist, non-Buddhist, all colors, all races, at Dakini Mountain we celebrate unity through diversity.
Diversity is beautiful.
Diversity is the norm.
The rawness of a wild forest, an open sky, rivers and trees… in the quiet of an open landscape, nature will remind us of our innate wisdom – which is none other than the Dakini principle.
Click Here to Register or for More Information
Dakini Mountain is named after the Dakini principle because this term – Dakini – expresses the principle of diversity in creative expression that is the phenomenal world. The notion of Dakini in the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) goes hand in hand with the teachings of the five elements and the five wisdoms. Each of these are represented by a variety of enlightened female figures, known as Dakinis, the Five Wisdom Dakinis.་
They are different colors, different body shapes and different personalities thought to represent the spectrum of wisdom qualities in human beings – joy, clarity, dignity, fearlessness and peace.
Pema Khandro Rinpoche will be leading Invoking the 100,000 Dakinis retreat from June 7th – 9th, which will include ritual land blessings, Buddhist teachings, meditation, yoga, organic vegetarian meals, communing with nature, community enjoyment and celebration!
Invoking the 100,000 Dakinis is a practice to raise radical courage and vivid presence. It invites protection, support and wakefulness within the mandala of the five elemental wisdoms and the meditation of Vajrayogini…
Sunday 1-5pm – Dakini Mountain Land Blessing
Land blessing & Laughter of the Dakini’s Chod, open to all donors, members, and friends. Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of our organization and of Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s teaching as well as the epic occasion of acquiring Dakini Mountain.
Dear Community of Buddhist Yogis,
You are cordially invited to celebrate Dakini Mountain’s birthday!
Pema Khandro Rinpoche will be leading Invoking the 100,000 Dakinis retreat from June 7th – 9th, which will include ritual land blessings, Buddhist teachings, meditation, yoga, organic vegetarian meals, communing with nature, community enjoyment and celebration!
Sunday 1-5pm – Dakini Mountain Celebration and Land Blessing
Land blessing & Laughter of the Dakini’s Chod, open to all donors, members, and friends. Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of our organization and of Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s teaching as well as the epic occasion of the launching of Dakini Mountain.
Invoking the 100,000 Dakinis is a practice to raise radical courage and vivid presence. It invites protection, support and wakefulness within the mandala of the five elemental wisdoms and the meditation of Vajrayogini…
This is a monthly class to support your meditation practice and meet the challenge of integrating
