Pema Khandro and Buddhist Yogis News Archive
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Dear Friends and Members Worldwide,
I pray for the health and wellness of you and all your loved ones and for everyone everywhere. Here are some announcements and heart advice.
It seems from the research I have been reading that the important thing at this time is to slow the spread of the virus by self-quarantining to stay home as much as possible. This is so that hospitals are not overwhelmed so quickly and therefore more lives could be saved. It is possible that many people will have mild symptoms, but also that everyone will have someone they know who passes away. I believe that our efforts should be to protect the vulnerable among us by remaining at home as much as possible, practicing physical distancing and washing our hands if we do go out and doing our wellness practices.
Even though “social distancing” may be practiced we don’t have to practice emotional distancing, I encourage you to call, text and email friends, loved ones, neighbors and family to stay emotionally connected and supportive during these times. See below for my post on how to show empathy to someone who is anxious.
In order to join the efforts to slow down the spread of the corona virus and offer support during these stressful times, we have made changes to our schedule.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
Empathy Training
We have moved the Empathy Training up to start one month later on April 29th. It will now be 4 weeks long and held online from 12-2pm PST (UTC-7), and recordings are available for international students.
This is so that I can offer public programs focused on Transforming Fear through meditation and insight. However, anyone who registers for the Empathy Training now, will receive a short weekly lesson until our class begins in April. So sign up if you haven’t yet and start training. There is a great need for empathy now! Register Now
Dakini Day Chod in Virginia is canceled and will become an online class in April.
I will be offering a weekly public class online to offer Buddhist resources to promote calm, focus, empathy and resilience. Starting with this Saturday’s Medicine Buddha Webcast, March 21st, from 10-11am PST (UTC-7). Medicine Buddha is a practice for anyone who is suffering, sick, or injured. Register Now
Then beginning Monday night March 23rd – April 13, every week for a month I will offer a Transforming Fear class. Register Now
These classes are free, they will include meditation, a short lecture, dialogue and our Yogic Medicine Institute faculty will also recommend natural health practices as well. Donations are optional and will go towards helping us continue to make these classes available.
OPEN TEACHINGS ONLINE
March
Mar 21 – Medicine Buddha Webcast
Mar 23 – Transforming Fear
Mar 25 – Dakini Day Chod in Virginia – cancelled
Mar 25 – Buddhist Philosophy Online
April
Apr 1 & 8 – Vajrayana Training as scheduled
Apr 17 – Dakini Day Chod
Apr 22 – Buddhist Philosophy Online
Apr 29 – Empathy Training
Our online shedra, the Ngakpa Training classes will also continue on 3rd and 4th Wednesdays as scheduled. These classes require prerequisites, students must pass exams to enter.
Also, our local community meditation classes in Seattle, Santa Cruz, and Richmond, California are all cancelled until further notice.
Social distancing + Giving Love
We can all get through this together, this is a perfect time to train in altruistic action. Altruistic acts will help to calm fears and promote your sense of agency. Greater agency often translates to less post traumatic stress. We can take actions to care for one another. We can create new networks and strengthen the ones we have. Rich networks are essential for our survival and contentment, it is a good thing that can come from this intense time. Start with a simple, “How are you doing?” text to a few friends each day, this would be a good practice. And don’t worry if the answer is filled with stress. Here is my post on how to show empathy to someone who is anxious:
How to Comfort Someone who is Anxious: Listen. Let them talk. Say “tell me more,” or ask questions until their feelings make sense to you. Let there be silences, let them take their time. Don’t try to dismiss their feelings (no gaslighting). Don’t try to fix them. Don’t try to talk them out of it. Let them know if there are things they are saying that you do understand, “Oh that would be hard,” “Oh that’s tough.” “Yeah I see that.” Ask questions about things you don’t understand. Assume that their feelings make sense, so keep listening and asking questions until you the feelings make sense to you. Listen until they are done talking. “Is there more?” If this is uncomfortable for you, make sure to do deep breathing while you are listening. If you mess it up this time, don’t worry, you will do better next time. Empathy can be learned. Even botched empathy attempts can still benefit others and yourself. And remember empathy can improve immunity according to research (See Yang et al. 2018), so it’s a worthwhile effort for your health.
Wishing you best health,
This class is being offered by donation, co-sponsored by Ngakpa International and the Yogic Medicine Institute. Help us keep this program going through your generous contribution.
Do you feel stressed, anxious or afraid in light of the global pandemic? Economic stress weighing you down? You are not alone! We can’t control everything but we can regulate our reactions, to move through fear, into a state of calm, focus and preparedness. Pema Khandro will be offering a weekly class this month focused on building resilience and transforming fear in times of crisis. It will include meditation, lecture, tips for wellness and a time to connect. How to care compassionately for your anxiety & fear. Tips to practice self care and empathy, and how to be there for yourselves and others including:
Empathy Training – Online – NEW DATES
Wednesdays, April 29 – May 20
12pm – 2pm PST (UTC-7) Timezone Converter
A happy life. Loving relationships. Peace with family. Deeper friendships. Real Love. Emotional Maturity. Spiritual Maturity. Socio-Emotional Intelligence. Harmony with Co-workers and so much more. Join three Buddhist teachers for an eight-week course in the core skills you need to live with an open-heart. Designed and led by internationally renowned scholar and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Pema Khandro. This training is also led by Aruna Rig’dzin Ross and Satya Shiva, Co- Directors of Ngakpa International and the Yogic Medicine Institute.
Join the 4-week Empathy training. Learn the core skills you need to connect, be heard and be there for others.
*** We have adjusted the Empathy Training to be 2 hours per meeting for four weeks instead of 1 hour per meeting for eight weeks. In light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, our schedule changed. Thank you for your understanding. We hope this new schedule will make it easier for you to attend. Attend live or watch recordings at your own pace.
Buddhist Philosophy Online: Excellent Path to Enlightenment
4th Wednesdays of Each Month
Online
Pema Khandro offers an open-free online guided meditation
each month on the fourth Wednesday of the month.
It is approximately half an hour with guided meditation and study of Excellent Path to Enlightenment, the guide to meditation by Longchenpa.
2020 Certification Trainings
Live and Online – Starts in August
Panchakarma Technician Certification
Ayurvedic Health Counselor Certification
Dakini Mountain Grand Opening & Retreat
WAS PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED:
Retreat with Pema Khandro: May 29 – Jun 2, 2020
Grand Opening Ceremony and Celebration: May 31st, 2020
WE WILL RE-ASSESS PLANS IN MID-APRIL
We had planned our grand opening and retreat for these dates, however, in light of the efforts to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, we will be reassessing our plans mid-April.
Donate Now for the development of Dakini Mountain
Share your Gifts and Heart of Service
We need your help! Contact Volunteer@BuddhistYogis.org
1. Fundraising Professional – Seeking an experienced fundraiser to help with strategy and development of short and longterm fundraising.
2. Admin Assistant – Seeking several people with administrative skills to help with projects of Ngakpa International, Pema Khandro, Dakini Mountain and the Yogic Medicine Institute.
3. Website Manager – Seeking someone with strong experience using and editing WordPress websites. Savvy technology skills and experience with Memberpress and LearnDash is a major plus!
4. Video Editors – Seeking 2 more video editors for the development on Online dharma courses and trainings.
5. Social Media Whiz – Seeking several people to help spread the word about all of Ngakpa Intl’s projects, trainings and retreats.
BUDDHIST YOGIS INFO ♦ DONATE ♦ VISIT OUR WEBSITES
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Copyright Ⓒ 2019
Ngakpa International • PO Box 2396 • Nevada City, CA • USA
This retreat will be held in at Mount Madonna Retreat Center in the Redwood Forest. People from all over the world come to enjoy the scenic forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mount Madonna Retreat Center offers 355 acres of these majestic trees and grasslands as a haven to connect with nature.
The retreat will begin on Tuesday evening, August 14th and continue until the 19th on Sunday afternoon. It will include meditation instruction and practice, yoga, Buddhist philosophy teachings and chanting Tibetan prayers. Friday night will include a celebration and Saturday night will be a Tsok feast. Food will be vegetarian with vegan options every day.
Free Member Class – Presence as the Path
A Training in Daily Practice, the Daily Prayers and the Silent Meditation known as Calm Abiding or Zhine Practice
July 26th, Thursday 6pm PST / 9pm EST
Online with Janak Kimmel
Residential Retreats
Aug 14 – 19 Dzogchen Meditation Retreat,
Mount Madonna Center with Pema Khandro
Oct 19 – 21 Vajra Sangha Retreat,
Khandro Ling, Virginia with Pema Khandro
Teacher Trainings
Sep 13 – Oct 6 Meditation Instructor Training
Online with Pema Khandro, Aruna Rigdzin and Satya Shiva
Oct 22 – 25 Group Leader Training,
Khandro Ling, Virginia with Pema Khandro
Weekly Online Classes with Pema Khandro
Wednesdays at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
1st Wed – Vajrayana Training
2nd Wed – Dzogchen Day for Members
3rd Wed – Ngakpa Training for Vajra Sangha students
4th Wed – Open Teaching – Online – Free for the Public – Study of Longchenpa’s Excellent Path to Enlightenment
5th Wed – Bodhisattva Training
Pema Khandro’s essay on Power in Buddhism was featured in Lion’s Roars Top Stories this week. This was based on a transcript of Pema Khandro’s speech at the Women’s March in Washington D.C. in 2017.
“Just because we avoid talking about power doesn’t mean we are unaffected by it. Power and hierarchy still unfold amidst our silence but are left to manifest in unconscious ways that promote suffering. This is the problem with the defensive avoidance of traumatic material: it always returns, resurfacing again and again until we can see our way through it. And we must see our way through it. If we avoid talking about power and social action, Buddhist ideas lose their relevance. We can’t speak of healthy love and compassion without addressing power dynamics. We can’t talk about interdependence without paying attention to the needs of the collective. It’s easy to say we love all sentient beings and to talk about universal compassion and empathy as abstractions. But how do we enact love and compassion on the ground, in real life?”
Click the link below to read the full article.
There is so much scientific research weighing in on the benefits of meditation! So its also inspiring to also take time to remember why to meditate from the Buddhist point of view. July’s Lion’s Roar Magazine offers an issue that features articles by Pema Khandro and other Buddhist teachers leaders. They write on the subject of the reasons to meditate (from Buddhism’s perspective).
Register Now – We have a couple spots left
This meditation retreat focuses on Tibetan Buddhism’s esoteric practice for transforming the most difficult experiences into opportunities for awakening, known as “Cutting Through” or Chod.
Chod is a dynamic meditation practice cherished by every lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It incorporates, vision, mantra, prayer, music, and ritual to cultivate open-hearted presence as the path to non-dual awareness.
It is also a Buddhist method for healing and transforming the hidden content within one’s own mind to release past traumas, undigested emotions and transform difficult experiences.
It is an ideal meditation practice for Vajrayana practitioners to train in because Chod includes every Vajrayana practice in its most essential form: refuge, bodhichitta, mandala offering, deity yoga, guru yoga, illusory body practice, transference of consciousness (Phowa) and more.
The retreat will alternate between teachings on Buddhist philosophy, training in Chod, dynamic meditation practice and silent sitting meditation. It will include instructions on:
The retreat will begin on Saga Dawa, May 29th, the day of the Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment, the most important day of the year to be doing intensive contemplative practice. It will continue until June 3rd.
The retreat will be held in the beautiful redwood forest in North California, just outside Santa Cruz, at Jikoji Zen Center. At 2350 ft. elevation in the Santa Cruz mountains, the property has many unique features, such as a large pond (or small lake), places to pitch a tent (in addition to hostel type accommodations), and miles of hiking trails in the surrounding 1800 acres of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
Weekly Online Classes
Wednesdays at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
1st Wed – Vajrayana Training
2nd Wed – Dzogchen Day for Members
3rd Wed – Ngakpa Training for Varja Sangha students
4th Wed – Open Teaching – Free for the Public
Lama Lhanang Rinpoche will offer a public teaching, tonight in Berkeley at the MahaSiddha Center. The topic is Transforming Fear – Heart Advice from the Lama. Lama Lhanang Rinpoche is a Yogi teaching in the Nyingma, Longchen Nyingthig tradition. The public program starts at 7pm. The next day, Rinpoche will also offer a one-day Anu-Yoga retreat.
Dear Friends,
As you may have heard on social media, Pema Khandro was hospitalized with Pneumonia and will not be able to travel to California this weekend.
Incredibly, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche and Gyaldak Rinpoche will be teaching in her place, so we will still be gathering in Berkeley for these auspicious teachings.
The updated schedule is as follows:
Friday, 6pm
Member Tea Reception
with Lama Lhanang Rinpoche
Friday, 7pm
Transforming Fear – Heart Advice from the Lama
with Lama Lhanang Rinpoche
Saturday, 10am-5pm
Anu Yoga Meditation Retreat: Ancient Tibetan Yoga for Body, Speech and Mind
with Lama Lhanang Rinpoche
Saturday, 6pm
Vajra Sangha Dinner
with Lama Lhanang Rinpoche
Sunday, 9am-1pm
Private Healing Sessions
with Lama Lhanang Rinpoche
Sunday, 6pm
Vajrayogini empowerment and Milarepa Tsok
with Gyaldak Rinpoche
Even as we grieve not seeing Pema Khandro Rinpoche, we look forward to being together in Berkeley this weekend with kind and eminent Rinpoche’s, as well as our wonderful community, and to drinking deep the dharma.
We hope you will join us and we look forward to seeing you soon.
Kindly,
Satya D Shiva
Chief Operations Officer
Ngakpa International – Buddhist Yogis Sangha
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“Homage to glorious Samantabhadra, the all-good ~ Longchenpa |
 Join Pema Khandro and the Community of Buddhist Yogis for a week of restorative, peaceful meditation. Pema Khandro is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, scholar and humanitarian, specializing in the philosophy and practice of Tibet’s Buddhist Yogis and their Dzogchen teachings. Click Here for Pema Khandro’s extended bio. |
Retreat into the beautiful redwood forest, unwind with gentle yoga, experience deep quiet, enjoy vegetarian cuisine, converse with fascinating people and best of all, receive Buddhism’s most profound teachings. Register Now – Reserve your Space. Late Tuition begins August 1st. |
| News & Announcements
Pema Khandro FAQ – new and up to date information Large Thangka’s for Auction in August Fundraiser – Stay tuned! New Videos posted to Ngakpa Library for Members Windhorse: Cultivating Good Fortune Carrying Joy and Sorrow on the Path |
| Ngakpa International Info@BuddhistYogis.org | www.BuddhistYogis.org |
What is Dzogchen Meditation?
“Dzogchen is one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most treasured practices for awakening to intrinsic wisdom. Dzogchen means ‘Great Perfection,’ which refers to the natural goodness at the heart of every person. Its goal is to cultivate wakeful, authentic presence.
One of the greatest challenges to well-being is the untrained mind. It is full of conditioned scripts and distracted. It may be so deeply habituated, that the experience of freshness and clarity are difficult to access. Buddhism points out that an untrained mind is plagued by mental afflictions such as anger, grasping, insecurity, depression, and jealousy. Even though most people spend their lives in such states, this is not mind’s ultimate potential. Mind also has a deeper aspect, known as ‘the nature of mind.’
The ‘nature of mind’ is an innermost quality of wakefulness, loving-kindness, and openness. According to Dzogchen teachings, these qualities are the enduring, ever-present, most authentic expression of being. Even though this nature of mind may be temporarily eclipsed by mental afflictions, those afflictions cannot dilute mind’s intrinsic quality. That quality, a natural goodness, is always there, waiting to be harvested. This is why Dzogchen meditation is practiced.
Meditation is a life-long practice. So, having a sustainable practice is crucial. This is why the quality of meditation over the quantity of meditation is valued in Dzogchen. For example, one can begin with shorter sessions and gradually extend them. Also, the practice of silent sitting meditation can be interspersed with breathing techniques. Silent meditations can be alternated with chanting meditation or physical meditation techniques.
Dzogchen meditations incorporate practices for body, speech and mind. Therefore the notion of ‘mind’ is a holistic one. Body, speech and mind are known as the three gates because they are the gateways to recognizing awareness. This is an important element of Dzogchen meditation because working with the posture and physical practices can greatly reduce the obstacles to meditation. But the body is not just a means to an end in Dzogchen meditation. The body itself is pervaded with buddha-nature. It has a natural wisdom and purity. Even though it is impermanent, it is also an expression of the creative compassion of ultimate reality. Therefore the body itself is a field of revelation and insight into authentic presence.”
(Excerpted from the Tibetan Yoga & Dzogchen teaching with Pema Khandro)
What is the Dzogchen Meditation Retreat?
This five-day retreat takes place annually in the redwood forest, in Santa Cruz California. This retreat is practice oriented. It focuses on deep relaxation and supported meditation practices. Since it is the most important event of the year for the Buddhist Yogis Sangha, students come from all around the world to attend.
There are still a few spaces left for this year’s Dzogchen Retreat with Pema Khandro Rinpoche. Register by July 15th for Early Bird Tuition.
Join Pema Khandro and the Community of Buddhist Yogis for a week of restorative, peaceful meditation.
Retreat into the beautiful redwood forest, unwind with restorative yoga, experience deep quiet, enjoy vegetarian cuisine, converse with fascinating people and best of all, receive Buddhism’s most profound teachings.
Pema Khandro is a Buddhist teacher specializing in the contemplative practices of Tibet’s Buddhist Yogis. Read more about the retreat teacher – Pema Khandro here – Pema Khandro’s Biography
Click here for Retreat Schedule and Details
Register Now for Early Bird Tuition
Members receive additional Discounts
Ngakpa International
Info@BuddhistYogis.org | www.BuddhistYogis.org
