Buddhist Studies Institute

Intrinsic Wisdom
Ngondro Module 4 starts Today

Online with Pema Khandro

August 10 – October 5, 2026

Mondays 5:00 – 6:30pm PT

Ngondro means ‘before going.’ In traditional Vajrayana practice, it represents the cognitive, physical, emotional and philosophical components which are keys to the practice of liberation. It is the basis for all Vajrayana practice and thus it is used as a the pre-requisite for the great practices of the Vajrayana tradition. However, ngondro itself is a beloved meditation series for its own sake. It is often practiced many times throughout a life cycle by great yogis of the Nyingma tradition such as Patrul Rinpoche (eighteenth century).

. This module focuses on the key theme of Vajrayana, which is empowerment, to experience the power of the indestructible buddhanature within oneself. It begins with Vajrayogini meditation and the seven line prayer, a prayer used widely in the Nyingma tradition to supplicate the awakened mind. This is followed by the guru yoga meditation and merging into Buddhahood.

Buddhist Studies Institute

Buddhist Fasting Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro, Derrick Pawo,
Aruna Rigdzin and Satya Shiva

August 8 – 9, 2026

9:00 – 1:00pm PT  |  12:00 – 4:00pm ET

Nyungne (smyung gnas) is one of the most revered and transformative practices in the Tibetan tradition, a profound cleansing in which body, speech, and mind are purified through devotion, silence, mantra, meditation, and fasting. As habitual patterns soften, practitioners reconnect with the innate clarity and compassion that Buddhism describes as their true nature.

This Buddhist fasting practice traces its origins to the eleventh-century Tibetan nun Gelongma Palmo, who turned to fasting as a path of liberation in the face of grave illness and through this practice realized awakening. Drawing on her lineage and on the Nyungne practice as preserved in the Longchen Nyingthig—the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse revealed by Jigme Lingpa—this retreat will guide participants through the journey of Gelongma Palmo by way of the meditation of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), the Buddha of Compassion.

Buddhist Studies Institute

Buddhist Fasting Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro, Derrick Pawo,
Aruna Rigdzin and Satya Shiva

August 8 – 9, 2026

9:00 – 1:00pm PT  |  12:00 – 4:00pm ET

Nyungne (smyung gnas) is one of the most revered and transformative practices in the Tibetan tradition, a profound cleansing in which body, speech, and mind are purified through devotion, silence, mantra, meditation, and fasting. As habitual patterns soften, practitioners reconnect with the innate clarity and compassion that Buddhism describes as their true nature.

This Buddhist fasting practice traces its origins to the eleventh-century Tibetan nun Gelongma Palmo, who turned to fasting as a path of liberation in the face of grave illness and through this practice realized awakening. Drawing on her lineage and on the Nyungne practice as preserved in the Longchen Nyingthig—the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse revealed by Jigme Lingpa—this retreat will guide participants through the journey of Gelongma Palmo by way of the meditation of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), the Buddha of Compassion.

Buddhist Studies Institute

Buddhist Fasting Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro, Derrick Pawo,
Aruna Rigdzin and Satya Shiva

August 8 – 9, 2026

9:00 – 1:00pm PT  |  12:00 – 4:00pm ET

Nyungne (smyung gnas) is one of the most revered and transformative practices in the Tibetan tradition, a profound cleansing in which body, speech, and mind are purified through devotion, silence, mantra, meditation, and fasting. As habitual patterns soften, practitioners reconnect with the innate clarity and compassion that Buddhism describes as their true nature.

This Buddhist fasting practice traces its origins to the eleventh-century Tibetan nun Gelongma Palmo, who turned to fasting as a path of liberation in the face of grave illness and through this practice realized awakening. Drawing on her lineage and on the Nyungne practice as preserved in the Longchen Nyingthig—the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse revealed by Jigme Lingpa—this retreat will guide participants through the journey of Gelongma Palmo by way of the meditation of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), the Buddha of Compassion.

Buddhist Studies Institute

Buddhist Studies Institute

Finding Wisdom Awareness

Longchenpa’s Treasury of Words and Meanings

Tsig Don Dzod

April 17–19, 2026

Live Online (recordings included with 1-year access)

9am–12pm PST  |  12–3pm EST  |  5–8pm London

We invite you to join a live online immersion exploring the Dzogchen view of Finding Wisdom Awareness through the profound philosophical and contemplative language of Longchenpa, and focusing on how awareness itself becomes obscured, and how it may be recognized directly. These teachings present one of the most refined accounts of mind and reality within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Join three Dzogchen scholars on exploring the Treasury of Words and Meanings along with a vibrant community online.

Guided by: David Germano, Ph.D., Khenpo Yeshi Rinpoche, and Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D. Each brings a distinct integration of lineage training, scholarship, and contemplative depth—offering a rare convergence of academic precision and direct experiential guidance.

This is a course for those who want to understand—not conceptually alone, but structurally and experientially—how awareness functions, how confusion arises, and how recognition becomes possible.

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dear Dharma Friends,

Is there something that remains? After all the stress, traumas, injuries, and exhaustions of a life — after the slow erosion that comes simply from living in difficult times — is there something that remains pristine, unscathed, purely whole and good? Is there anything within us that is a fresh space, untouched by the confusion and suffering we carry? And if so — how do we access it? How do we find our way back to it when the noise of our lives has become deafening?

These are not idle philosophical questions. They are the questions that arise in the middle of the night, in the aftermath of grief, at the edge of burnout. They are the questions we bring to practice when practice itself feels like it is no longer enough. And they deserve more than vague reassurances.

One of the greatest Buddhist philosophers of all time takes on exactly these questions — not with abstraction, not with platitudes, but with breathtaking precision and depth. His name is Longchenpa, the fourteenth-century master and brilliant systematizer of the Great Perfection, Dzogchen. In his Treasury of Words and Meanings (Tshig don rin po che’i mdzod), one of the celebrated Seven Treasuries, Longchenpa offers what may be the most detailed, evocative, and philosophically profound account of our primordial nature ever composed. This is not a text that gestures vaguely toward “buddha nature” and leaves you to fill in the blanks. Longchenpa unfolds, with startling specificity, the what, where, and how of primordial knowing — ye shes, gnosis — that luminous awareness which, according to the Dzogchen teachings, has never been damaged by anything that has happened to us.

Think about that for a moment. The claim is not simply that we have potential, or that we can become whole through effort. The claim is that there is a dimension of our being that has always been whole — that the ground of who we are possesses an intrinsic luminosity, a spontaneous presence, and a compassionate responsiveness that has never once been compromised. Not by our worst moments. Not by our deepest confusion. Not by the full weight of everything we have endured. Longchenpa maps this ground with extraordinary care, showing how its essence, nature, and energy give rise to the entire spectrum of experience — awakened and deluded alike — and, critically, how non-recognition sets in motion all the wandering of cyclic existence.

This is the heart of the Dzogchen view. It is the guiding light that can be carried into the darkest stretches of the path — not as a concept to hold onto, but as a direct understanding of how things actually are at the most fundamental level. Longchenpa addresses the basis of how all things unfold, how they take place on an ultimate level, and how we come to know them. He draws together cosmology, ontology, and epistemology, (how things arise, how things are, and how we know them) into a single, coherent vision that is as philosophically rigorous as it is contemplatively alive. And in doing so, he gives us something we desperately need: a view that does not collapse under the weight of real suffering.

Generally, the topic of what is ultimate — the nature of mind, buddha nature, the ground — falls into an area too often addressed in vague, abstract, and disembodied ways. We hear that our nature is pure. We hear that awareness is luminous. But rarely do we encounter a teaching that lays out, in precise and evocative detail, exactly how that purity is structured, how it expresses itself in a body, and how we regain contact with it. This is precisely what Longchenpa provides in chapters three and four of the Treasury, which form the focus of our weekend study. These chapters contain his most sustained account of the ground and its display — the architecture of primordial awareness and the mechanics of delusion. To study them is to receive a transmission of extraordinary philosophical clarity, the kind of clarity that changes not only how you think but how you see.

These are times when ultimate wisdom is sorely needed. Buddhist texts tell us plainly: bereft of that knowledge, we wander lost in cyclic existence. That wandering is not merely an abstract condition — it is the felt experience of disconnection, confusion, and exhaustion that so many people carry. Longchenpa wrote in the fourteenth century, but his words land with uncanny force in our own moment, because the questions he addresses are timeless and the answers he offers are precise enough to meet us where we actually are.

I cannot overstate what an extraordinary opportunity this is. This weekend of study will be led by three remarkable teachers: Dr. David Germano, one of the world’s foremost scholars of Dzogchen and Longchenpa’s writings, whose depth of knowledge of these texts is unparalleled; Khenpo Yeshi Rinpoche, whose mastery of the tradition brings the living voice of the lineage directly into the room, and the rare combination of traditional scholar and western academic, myself, Dr. Pema Khandro, a lineage holder, scholar, and teacher committed to making these teachings accessible without compromising the rigor and depth. To have all three of these teachers together, guiding us through one of the most important texts in the entire Dzogchen canon, is genuinely rare. 

Don’t let this opportunity pass. Whether you are a long-time practitioner seeking to deepen your understanding of the view, a student of Buddhist philosophy hungry for Longchenpa’s remarkable precision, or someone who simply feels the pull of that fundamental question — is there something within me that remains whole? — this weekend is for you.

Join us. Register now, and come sit with the question that matters most.

My best to you always,

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dear Dharma Friends,

Is there something that remains? After all the stress, traumas, injuries, and exhaustions of a life — after the slow erosion that comes simply from living in difficult times — is there something that remains pristine, unscathed, purely whole and good? Is there anything within us that is a fresh space, untouched by the confusion and suffering we carry? And if so — how do we access it? How do we find our way back to it when the noise of our lives has become deafening?

These are not idle philosophical questions. They are the questions that arise in the middle of the night, in the aftermath of grief, at the edge of burnout. They are the questions we bring to practice when practice itself feels like it is no longer enough. And they deserve more than vague reassurances.

One of the greatest Buddhist philosophers of all time takes on exactly these questions — not with abstraction, not with platitudes, but with breathtaking precision and depth. His name is Longchenpa, the fourteenth-century master and brilliant systematizer of the Great Perfection, Dzogchen. In his Treasury of Words and Meanings (Tshig don rin po che’i mdzod), one of the celebrated Seven Treasuries, Longchenpa offers what may be the most detailed, evocative, and philosophically profound account of our primordial nature ever composed. This is not a text that gestures vaguely toward “buddha nature” and leaves you to fill in the blanks. Longchenpa unfolds, with startling specificity, the what, where, and how of primordial knowing — ye shes, gnosis — that luminous awareness which, according to the Dzogchen teachings, has never been damaged by anything that has happened to us.

Think about that for a moment. The claim is not simply that we have potential, or that we can become whole through effort. The claim is that there is a dimension of our being that has always been whole — that the ground of who we are possesses an intrinsic luminosity, a spontaneous presence, and a compassionate responsiveness that has never once been compromised. Not by our worst moments. Not by our deepest confusion. Not by the full weight of everything we have endured. Longchenpa maps this ground with extraordinary care, showing how its essence, nature, and energy give rise to the entire spectrum of experience — awakened and deluded alike — and, critically, how non-recognition sets in motion all the wandering of cyclic existence.

This is the heart of the Dzogchen view. It is the guiding light that can be carried into the darkest stretches of the path — not as a concept to hold onto, but as a direct understanding of how things actually are at the most fundamental level. Longchenpa addresses the basis of how all things unfold, how they take place on an ultimate level, and how we come to know them. He draws together cosmology, ontology, and epistemology, (how things arise, how things are, and how we know them) into a single, coherent vision that is as philosophically rigorous as it is contemplatively alive. And in doing so, he gives us something we desperately need: a view that does not collapse under the weight of real suffering.

Generally, the topic of what is ultimate — the nature of mind, buddha nature, the ground — falls into an area too often addressed in vague, abstract, and disembodied ways. We hear that our nature is pure. We hear that awareness is luminous. But rarely do we encounter a teaching that lays out, in precise and evocative detail, exactly how that purity is structured, how it expresses itself in a body, and how we regain contact with it. This is precisely what Longchenpa provides in chapters three and four of the Treasury, which form the focus of our weekend study. These chapters contain his most sustained account of the ground and its display — the architecture of primordial awareness and the mechanics of delusion. To study them is to receive a transmission of extraordinary philosophical clarity, the kind of clarity that changes not only how you think but how you see.

These are times when ultimate wisdom is sorely needed. Buddhist texts tell us plainly: bereft of that knowledge, we wander lost in cyclic existence. That wandering is not merely an abstract condition — it is the felt experience of disconnection, confusion, and exhaustion that so many people carry. Longchenpa wrote in the fourteenth century, but his words land with uncanny force in our own moment, because the questions he addresses are timeless and the answers he offers are precise enough to meet us where we actually are.

I cannot overstate what an extraordinary opportunity this is. This weekend of study will be led by three remarkable teachers: Dr. David Germano, one of the world’s foremost scholars of Dzogchen and Longchenpa’s writings, whose depth of knowledge of these texts is unparalleled; Khenpo Yeshi Rinpoche, whose mastery of the tradition brings the living voice of the lineage directly into the room, and the rare combination of traditional scholar and western academic, myself, Dr. Pema Khandro, a lineage holder, scholar, and teacher committed to making these teachings accessible without compromising the rigor and depth. To have all three of these teachers together, guiding us through one of the most important texts in the entire Dzogchen canon, is genuinely rare. 

Don’t let this opportunity pass. Whether you are a long-time practitioner seeking to deepen your understanding of the view, a student of Buddhist philosophy hungry for Longchenpa’s remarkable precision, or someone who simply feels the pull of that fundamental question — is there something within me that remains whole? — this weekend is for you.

Join us. Register now, and come sit with the question that matters most.

My best to you always,

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dear Friends,

We invite you to join us for Finding Wisdom Awareness, an upcoming live online immersion exploring the Dzogchen view of Buddha nature through the profound philosophical and contemplative language of Longchenpa. Longchenpa was the great forefather and synthesizer of the Dzogchen teachings. He lived in the fourteenth century and his writings became the basis for the flourishing of the Dzochen tradition thereafter.

This weekend teaching (April 17–19) continues our close study of the Treasury of Words and Meanings, focusing on how awareness itself—primordial, luminous, and already present—becomes obscured, and how it may be recognized directly. It address the view of buddhanature as uniquely spoken through the Dzogchen view of a world made of primordial knowing.

Rather than approaching these teachings as abstract philosophy, this course offers a rare opportunity to engage them as a living system of insight: a way of understanding mind, perception, and reality at their root.

You will be guided through key frameworks within Dzogchen, including:

• The nature of the ground (gzhi)

• The relationship between primordial knowing and lived experience

• Commonalities between samsara and nirvana

• Was of understanding emptiness that are not nihilistic but profoundly positive and present

• How buddha-nature abides and can be discovered

• What buddha-nature is and its distinctive form in Dzochen

• Buddha-nature as it is discoverable through the natural world

• Natural liberation and innate wisdom

• The special metaphors, similies and other poetic pathways to recognizing the nature of mind

• The relationship between Longchenpa’s works and the seventeen tantras

• The difference between recognition and non-recognition

Together, these teachings present one of the most refined accounts of mind and reality within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Join three Dzogchen scholars on exploring the Treasury of Words and Meanings along with a vibrant community online.

Faculty

Guided by: David Germano, Ph.D., Khenpo Yeshi Rinpoche, and Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D. Each brings a distinct integration of lineage training, scholarship, and contemplative depth—offering a rare convergence of academic precision and direct experiential guidance.

Event Details

April 17–19, 2026

Live Online (recordings included with 1-year access)

Schedule

9am–12pm PST

12–3pm EST

5–8pm London

This is a course for those who want to understand—not conceptually alone, but structurally and experientially—how awareness functions, how confusion arises, and how recognition becomes possible.

Register now to join live or receive the recordings. If you’re on the threshold of engaging Dzogchen more deeply, this is an excellent place to step in.

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dear Friends,

We invite you to join us for Finding Wisdom Awareness, an upcoming live online immersion exploring the Dzogchen view of Buddha nature through the profound philosophical and contemplative language of Longchenpa. Longchenpa was the great forefather and synthesizer of the Dzogchen teachings. He lived in the fourteenth century and his writings became the basis for the flourishing of the Dzochen tradition thereafter.

This weekend teaching (April 17–19) continues our close study of the Treasury of Words and Meanings, focusing on how awareness itself—primordial, luminous, and already present—becomes obscured, and how it may be recognized directly. It address the view of buddhanature as uniquely spoken through the Dzogchen view of a world made of primordial knowing.

Rather than approaching these teachings as abstract philosophy, this course offers a rare opportunity to engage them as a living system of insight: a way of understanding mind, perception, and reality at their root.

You will be guided through key frameworks within Dzogchen, including:

• The nature of the ground (gzhi)

• The relationship between primordial knowing and lived experience

• Commonalities between samsara and nirvana

• Was of understanding emptiness that are not nihilistic but profoundly positive and present

• How buddha-nature abides and can be discovered

• What buddha-nature is and its distinctive form in Dzochen

• Buddha-nature as it is discoverable through the natural world

• Natural liberation and innate wisdom

• The special metaphors, similies and other poetic pathways to recognizing the nature of mind

• The relationship between Longchenpa’s works and the seventeen tantras

• The difference between recognition and non-recognition

Together, these teachings present one of the most refined accounts of mind and reality within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Join three Dzogchen scholars on exploring the Treasury of Words and Meanings along with a vibrant community online.

Faculty

Guided by: David Germano, Ph.D., Khenpo Yeshi Rinpoche, and Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D. Each brings a distinct integration of lineage training, scholarship, and contemplative depth—offering a rare convergence of academic precision and direct experiential guidance.

Event Details

April 17–19, 2026

Live Online (recordings included with 1-year access)

Schedule

9am–12pm PST

12–3pm EST

5–8pm London

This is a course for those who want to understand—not conceptually alone, but structurally and experientially—how awareness functions, how confusion arises, and how recognition becomes possible.

Register now to join live or receive the recordings. If you’re on the threshold of engaging Dzogchen more deeply, this is an excellent place to step in.