With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
Take your meditation practice to the next level through the classic system of Vajrayana meditation known as Ngondro. Module Four of Ngondro presents a practice for experiencing the most empowered dimension of being through the practices of Vajrayogini and Padmasambhava. It is one of the four primary methods taught in Ngondro to purify, awaken, and transform the mind.
Ngondro are the foundational practices for purifying, training and empowering the body-mind. They form the basis of Vajrayana meditation and serve as the foundation for the highest practices of the nature of mind. Ngondro means ‘before going.’ In traditional Vajrayana practice, it represents the cognitive, physical, emotional and philosophical components which are keys to the practice liberation.
It is possible to join Ngondro Training at any time, and it can be taken in any order. Join current modules live and take previous modules at your own pace.
When you attend live, its an opportunity to meet new dharma friends, practice together, talk together, and dialogue with your instructors.
This Ngondro training focuses on the foundational esoteric practices of the Nyingma tradition, of Tibetan Buddhism which emphasizes reliance on intrinsic wisdom, through its highest teaching, Dzogchen. The Heart of the Vast Expanse is a cherished cycle of the Nyingma lineage. It is also known as the Longchen Nyingthig, (klong chen snying thig). This is a cycle revealed by the brilliant eighteenth century Buddhist yogi, Jigme Lingpa, poet, leader, historian, and treasure revealer, whose texts synthesize Longchenpa’s teachings.
“To be sure, ordinary beings abide in the illusions of karma. Yogis abide in the illusions of meditative experiences. Buddhas, for their part, abide in the illusion of purity. All phenomena are illusion-like.”
Excerpt From, Finding Rest in Meditation, Longchenpa
These beautiful teachings consider the fundamental ease available in the depths of being, and how to access those states. It is often difficult to access rigorous engagement with Buddhist intellectual traditions. The Buddhist Studies Institute offers groundbreaking efforts to make that study available. The Dzogchen Retreat online will offer the opportunity to study the core writings of one of the most venerated and brilliant Buddhist philosophers of Tibet, Longchenpa (1308-1364). In classes you will read passages in Tibetan and translated English and enjoy the rich commentary and interpretation byDzogchen scholar, Lama and lineage holder, Dr. Pema Khandro.
This retreat is led entirely online. Deep rest is the best preparation for class, enjoy restorative yoga in the morning led by Buddhist Studies Institute Faculty.
Part of the retreat includes:
Feeling the support of group practice
Dharma conversations, fostering community through small group discussions
Experiencing Dzogchen, guided meditation sessions led by Pema Khandro
Delving into Buddhist philosophy anchored in rigorous engagement with classical Buddhist texts; enjoying daily lectures given by Dr. Khandro
Buddhist Philosophy
Heart Sutra Chanting
Remembering the profound teachings that unravel it all at the root
Exploring reality, enjoying question and answer sessions with Dr. Khandro
Signing up for one-to-one meetings at the end of the retreat with the Lama
Bringing the dharma home to you; engaging in in-depth training from your own home, an unprecedented accessibility to traditional Buddhist training
Pema Khandro will lead practices from the 27 Practices for Training for Dzogchen Meditation from the sems nyid ngal gso, Longchenpa’s instructions on Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind. A system venerated for its power to awaken the primordial knowing beyond illusions, these practices provide an opening to the authentic nature of innate wakefulness.
Unplug. Disconnect. Take space for inner silence and chanting meditation. Share silence together. Enjoy deep dharma study. This retreat includes guidance and support for taking a break from social media and news to create space for reflection and to declutter the mind.
Pre-requisites
Previous meditation experience and a history of meditation practice is necessary to fully appreciate and engage in the practices taught in this retreat, but this class is offered with open enrollment. Recommended prerequisites are: completed Ngondro training, are currently enrolled in Ngondro training or have completed Ngondro in any lineage.
Buddhist meditation is a practice of wakeful presence. During meditation, everything outside ourselves is left as it is and attention is focused on the present moment. The purpose of meditation is to wake up from the maze of habitual dissatisfaction. The goal is to be simply present to experience things as they are.
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
Through the Buddhist Studies Institute, Pema Khandro has made your successful practice her top priority. And perhaps the most seminal of the practices of Tibetan Buddhism is the Ngondro (pronounced “none dro”) which literally translates as “Before Going.”
Completing the Ngondro is required before one goes on to advanced practices that the Vajrayana tradition is known for, such as Yidam, Tsa Lung, and Dzogchen meditations.
More importantly, Ngondro provides a firm basis for living the meaning of Buddhist practice by training the body, speech and mind in the vast view. It provides an immersion into the core techniques of Buddhist tantra. It is said that the great master Patrul Rinpoche received and completed the Longchen Nyingthig Ngondro twenty-five times.
Although many aspire to complete the Ngondro, large numbers have not. Ngondro is known for being difficult to do. Often people think of completing the Ngondro “some day” when they carve out time for an extended retreat or when their family or business responsibilities are at their nadir. You don’t have to wait. It is not helpful or necessary to consider Ngondro as too difficult – something that someone else does but not you.
Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute are focused on making the key elements of advanced practice attainable for everyday people who live ordinary lives in modern society, busy people who have jobs and families.
How can we make advanced practices available to “ordinary” people? How is this done? One of the key elements of accomplishing this is through accessible education. Many times possibilities are not known or understood due to lack of exposure and knowledge.
We are not in favor of the idea of missing out on our ability to practice Buddhism through lack of access to education. Hence, you are invited to Ngondro Training where you can learn and be supported in accomplishment of the Ngondro, a vital and wonderful accomplishment for any practitioner.
The Ngondro is a highly effective practice. It’s an education that teaches you the attitudes, mindset and ways of a successful practitioner.
The practices of Ngondro and Buddhism in general are designed to alleviate and counteract the ways that society unconsciously trains us to fail in being happy and loving. Instead these time honored practices help us to be more and more free of suffering, the original goal as stated by the Buddha.
The Ngondro Training begins next week, August 21st. This training is designed with busy people in mind and if you cannot attend a segment of the training live, you will have access to the recording so you can view at a time that fits your schedule. You will receive plenty of support for your practice in between the times of the class modules.
This Ngondro training focuses on the The Heart of the Vast Expanse Ngondro revealed by the brilliant eighteenth century Buddhist yogi, Jigme Lingpa, poet, leader, historian, and treasure revealer, whose texts are based on the quintessential Longchenpa teachings.
Module 4: Intrinsic Wisdom Receiving the Four Empowerments Merging into Buddhahood
If this sounds like the training you are interested in, find out more and register here:
Join us for this special online retreat led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Dr. Pema Khandro. She will lead the study of and practice of the ngal gso skor gsum, Longchenpa’s trilogy on Finding Comfort and Ease, a classic text of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which has been presented section by section annually for eight years at the Buddhist Studies Institute.
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
It is possible to join Ngondro Training at any time and it can be taken in any order. Join current modules live and take previous modules at your own pace. This module will focus on Intrinsic Wisdom including Receiving the Four Empowerments and Merging into Buddhahood.
Ngondro are the foundational practices for purifying, training and empowering the body-mind. They form the basis of Vajrayana meditation and serve as the foundation for the highest practices of the nature of mind. Ngondro means ‘before going.’ In traditional Vajrayana practice, it represents the cognitive, physical, emotional and philosophical components which are keys to the practice liberation.
This Ngondro training focuses on the foundational esoteric practices of the Nyingma tradition, of Tibetan Buddhism which emphasizes reliance on intrinsic wisdom, through its highest teaching, Dzogchen. The Heart of the Vast Expanse is a cherished cycle of the Nyingma lineage. It is also known as the Longchen Nyingthig, (klong chen snying thig). This is a cycle revealed by the brilliant eighteenth century Buddhist yogi, Jigme Lingpa, poet, leader, historian, and treasure revealer, whose texts synthesize Longchenpa’s teachings.
Pema Khandro reserves Ngondro teachings for serious students who wish to do intensive contemplative training. Dedicated to training yogis, householders and lay people outside of the monastery, Pema Khandro presents these practices in their concise, essential form. This comprehensive course on Ngondro will be taught in four modules to support the accomplishment of practice over the period of one year, with the training modules completed in nine months.
This is a precious opportunity to experience the methods taught in Dzogchen meditation, Tibetan Buddhism’s most treasured path. Dzogchen means ‘Great Completion,’ because it focuses on the natural wisdom at the heart of every person. Even though each person has intrinsic goodness, states of chronic tension and fixation can impede its expression. Meditation in Dzogchen is a method of awakening to this wisdom and unraveling the obstacles to experiencing it. This is a path of allowing intrinsic wakefulness to manifest through letting go, settling in and supporting the body and mind to discover natural calm.
Encounter the profound instructions of the trilogy of comfort and ease, the exposition on the stages of the journey by one of the great Tibetan philosopher, Longchenpa (1308-1364).
Experience three days of profound study and meditation in a three-day online retreat with Dr. Pema Khandro.
Cultivate states of rest and ease in a supportive community of joyful dharma friends.
This online retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Dr. Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. She will lead the study of and practice of the ngal gso skor gsum, Longchenpa’s trilogy on Finding Comfort and Ease, a classic text of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which has been presented section by section annually for eight years at the Buddhist Studies Institute.
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
Choying Dzod Retreat With Pema Khandro and Khenpo Yeshi
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
9am – 12:00pm San Francisco (PDT)
12pm – 3:00pm New York (EDT)
Choying Dzod is the meaning of the innate nature of mind, dharmakaya.
It elucidates naked primordial wisdom without affirming or negating anything.
It is the heart essence of the visions of the Omniscient Lama Longchen Rabjam.
It is the most profound of all profound teachings.
It is the vivid arising of pure dharmakaya as the teaching.
This excellent teaching is a living buddha.
It fulfills the Buddha’s activities in this world.
It manifests the absolute vision of the Buddha.
Even if you were to see the Buddha in person, there would not be [any] greater teaching than this
– Paltrul Rinpoche
Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself, The Treasury of Basic Space is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute tomorrow for this special program taught online by two esteemed Dzogchen scholars, Khenpo Yeshi, and Dr. Pema Khandro. Experience the power of the coinciding of study and practice on this rare occassion.
Intrinsic Wisdom module 4 focuses on the key theme of Vajrayana, which is empowerment, to experience the power of the indestructible buddhanature within oneself.
This covers the Lama Naljor, the meditation for stepping into self-empowerment through connection with Vajrayogini and Padmasambhava.
The Lama Naljor 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.
Module Four is open to new and returning students, new comers will be fortunate to join in with a brilliant group of dharma friends. Returning students will reunite with the Water Rabbits to persevere through the profound contemplative training system of Ngondro together.
Pema Khandro says: “Guess who is featured in the “Meet a Teacher” in Lion’s Roar?! what a fascinating a difficult process to boil down my life to a few paragraphs, and they edited that down even more…. There was a long section about the lamas I studied with and also about being a woman of color and multi-cultural person, adventures in Asia… Despite being so introverted I had alot to say! but it was too long so thanks to the skillful editors its now a pithy glimpse into a few facets of the strange and wonderful journey that I’ve gone on as a female lama, tulku, scholar, and someone who loves to walk by rivers… Check out the section on my heroes! That’s my favorite one….”
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
Choying Dzod Retreat With Pema Khandro and Khenpo Yeshi
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
9am – 12:00pm San Francisco (PDT)
12pm – 3:00pm New York (EDT)
“I am inalienable sublime knowing.
Outer, inner, and secret are perfect in me.”
-The Treasury of Basic Space
Study the profound Dzogchen manual for meditation and liberation. This text is read to a dying loved one, the crucial support at the most important time. It guides the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.
Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself, The Treasury of Basic Space is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by two esteemed Dzogchen scholars, Khenpo Yeshi, and Dr. Pema Khandro. Experience the power of the coinciding of study and practice.
Whether starting new, catching up, continuing or starting over,
you are welcome to join NOW!
There are so many reasons to join!
To feel a sense of personal power
To feel a sense of roots
To connect to lineage
To connect with dharma friends
To go deep into esoteric meditation
To find a sense of greater freedom
To train in the precious path of Vajrayana
It is possible to join Ngondro Training at any time and it can be taken in any order. Join current modules live and take previous modules at your own pace. This module will focus on Intrinsic Wisdom including Receiving the Four Empowerments and Merging into Buddhahood.
Ngondro are the foundational practices for purifying, training and empowering the body-mind. They form the basis of Vajrayana meditation and serve as the foundation for the highest practices of the nature of mind. Ngondro means ‘before going.’ In traditional Vajrayana practice, it represents the cognitive, physical, emotional and philosophical components which are keys to the practice liberation.
This Ngondro training focuses on the foundational esoteric practices of the Nyingma tradition, of Tibetan Buddhism which emphasizes reliance on intrinsic wisdom, through its highest teaching, Dzogchen. The Heart of the Vast Expanse is a cherished cycle of the Nyingma lineage. It is also known as the Longchen Nyingthig, (klong chen snying thig). This is a cycle revealed by the brilliant eighteenth century Buddhist yogi, Jigme Lingpa, poet, leader, historian, and treasure revealer, whose texts synthesize Longchenpa’s teachings.
All of the ngondro meditations are highly psychological and psycho-physical. They deal with the fundamental issues of a spiritual life, ones identity, body, relationships, past and future.
Join us for the opportunity to do a deep dive into the teachings of one of the greatest philosophers of esoteric Buddhism who ever lived.
Experience three days of profound study and meditation in a three-day online retreat with Dr. Pema Khandro.
Finding Rest & Ease in the Nature of Mind
Encounter the profound instructions of the trilogy of comfort and ease, the exposition on the stages of the journey by one of the great Tibetan philosopher, Longchenpa (1308-1364).
This is a classical texted of the Nyingma tradition that provides an outline of the essence of esoteric Buddhism and the contemplative life.
The retreat three-day online retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Dr. Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. She will lead the study of and practice of the ngal gso skor gsum, Longchenpa’s trilogy on Finding Comfort and Ease.
About Dzogchen
Meditation in Dzogchen is a method of awakening to innate wisdom and unraveling the obstacles to experiencing it. This is a path of allowing intrinsic wakefulness to manifest through letting go, settling in and supporting the body and mind to discover natural calm.
Dharma Study in A Joyful, Warm Community
Cultivate states of rest and ease in a supportive community of joyful dharma friends.
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
The Basic Space of Being The profound manual for Dzogchen Meditation
With Khenpo Yeshi and Pema Khandro
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
9am -12pm San Francisco (PDT)
12pm – 3pm New York (EDT)
Khenpo Ngakchung (1879-1941) recalling dialogues with Patrul Rinpoche:
“Choying Dzod has also been used as a liturgy (Skt. sadhana)-that is, a
daily prayer or meditation guide. My teacher Kyala Khenpo (1893-
1957) used to read a chapter of Choying Dzod and meditate on it
every day. I remember his telling Tulku Dorje Dradul (1891-1959), the
youngest son ofTerton Dudjom Lingpa (I835-1904), “I have vowed to
read a chapter of Choying Dzod every day until death comes to me.”
Tulku responded, “It is the best practice. It is the sadhana of dharmakaya,
the ultimate body of the buddha.” Even on the very morning that
Khenpo drew his last breath, he recited a chapter of Choying Dzod and
meditated on it. It was Chapter Three, which ends with
Always remain in the unchanging state.
There is no straying, even in the slightest, from awakened mind.”
-Khenpo Ngakchung (1879-1941)
Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form.
Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself, The Treasury of Basic Space is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by two esteemed Dzogchen scholars, Khenpo Yeshi, and Dr. Pema Khandro. Experience the power of the coinciding of study and practice.
Join an international group of like-minded travelers on a profound journey into the heart of Vajrayana meditation.
The Heart of the Vast Expanse is a cherished cycle of the Nyingma lineage that prepares for the path of Dzogchen. It is also known as the Longchen Nyingthig, (klong chen snying thig) Ngondro. This is a cycle revealed by the brilliant eighteenth century Buddhist yogi, Jigme Lingpa, poet, leader, historian, and treasure revealer, whose texts synthesize the teachings of Nyingma luminary, Longchenpa.
This Ngondro training focuses on the foundational esoteric practices of the Nyingma tradition, of Tibetan Buddhism which emphasizes reliance on intrinsic wisdom, through its highest teaching, Dzogchen.
Ngondro Is Meant To Be Done In A Community
This comprehensive course on Ngondro will be taught in four modules to support the accomplishment of practice over the period of one year. Join the Ngondro Training at the first Live Webinar Class of any module. Get support to accomplish the mantra accumulations with a weekly online practice group and an accountability partner. Find clarity by bringing questions to a live monthly class with Pema Khandro.
Without proper instruction ngondro can be incredibly complex and difficult. This course offers a simple, thorough, direct and supported experience of ngondro – making the heart essence of Vajrayana accessible for serious practitioners.
So much about life is uncomfortable and not easy, which is why it is important to train to tap into states of ease as a source of refuge, and recovery. Rest is a state that can be found, as the natural condition of innate space. This three day course explores the profound methods of Great Perfection for discovering natural ease based on the beloved fourteenth century scriptures of esoteric Buddhism known as “Finding Rest and Ease in the Nature of Mind.”
Experience three days of study and meditation in this online retreat with Dr. Pema Khandro who continues to teach from this text on a yearly basis.
“Our state of being is a phenomenon that has its own momentum…we’re not just coming into circumstances as a blank slate.” Pema Khandro
Do you have to believe in reincarnation to be a Buddhist? How do we prepare for death? Our idea for preparing for death changes. Listen to Pema Khandro discuss the notion of reincarnation in Buddhism and how this idea is connected with the Buddhist worldview of interdependence, cause and effect, momentum of karmic actions and the motivation to interrupt cycles of unconscious habitual existence.
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
I recently taught our first in person retreat at Dakini Mountain since the pandemic. After so much anticipation, it was good news that no one got covid, and instead we had a beautiful, joyous, and deep experience together. It was one of the best retreats in memory. Partly because so many people had done online study, the preparation had really showed. We also had new friends, and the mixture of people from all the different time periods of my teaching felt like a sunny showcase of all years of our sangha. During the retreat practices we worked on preparation for death and investigating what demons had power over us so we could set them free through Chod practices. We explored emptiness in a practical way, and there was a very powerful night of the Laughter of the Dakinis. There were so many beautiful aspects of the retreat, but one of my favorites was hearing the sound of all our drums beating together, and hearing all the different voices while we were chanting together. It was a revitalizing experience. Thank you everyone who made it possible, how lovely to be in the Vajra world together with you.
Afterwards, Satya, Aruna and I spent three days talking, walking, and doing practice together at Dakini Mountain. Being in a time of increased uncertainty, all we can do is put one foot in front of another and take one step at a time. Yet even flying blind, we still have bodhichitta to guide us, so we are taking steps forward.
With that aspiration, we offered a special Vajrayogini practice, Calling 100,000 Dakinis prayer and afterwards dismantled the Vajrayogini shrine to make room for the next phase, whatever that will be. Currently the Panchakarma clinic there is still up and running but we are no longer planning retreats there (unless the circumstances drastically change). So the Vajrayogini practice was our pivotal moment. We recited the prayer sitting in front of the blessed statue and then packed her up in her case and opened up to what is next.
Then it started pouring and pouring rain. There was so much rain, rain that was difficult to walk in and dangerous to drive in, like a flood from the sky. This rain was auspicious on numerous counts, first because it was the end of a puja and rain signals its success. But secondly, because this is California, rain means protection from wildfires, so on a primal level, it was received as a relief. And because we are in a period of uncertainty, anything that happens in the environment is gratefully received as a present moment event that is other than uncertainty, and therefore an event to be relished.
That rain reminded me of the line in Mipham’s “Shower of Blessings,” in which we pray to the dakinis and devas to shower down their compassion, “pour down your blessings like a rain of compassion! …shower down a great rain of dharma profound and vast!” Here is an excerpt from it for you to enjoy, may a rain of benevolence shower down upon all of us!
སྐྱབས་གནས་ཀུན་འདུས་མཁྱེན་བརྩེའི་གཏེར་ཆེན་པོ། །
All sources of refuge in one, a great treasure of wisdom and love,
དུས་ངན་སྙིགས་མའི་སྐྱབས་མཆོག་རིན་པོ་ཆེ། །
In this dark age, the dregs of time, precious, greatest protector
ལྔ་བདོའི་རྒུད་པས་མནར་ཤིང་གདུངས་ཤུགས་ཀྱིས། །
When I call on you, suffering, tormented and drained by the five afflictions,
གསོལ་འདེབས་བུ་ལ་བརྩེ་བས་ཐུགས་ཀྱིས་གཟིགས། །
Look upon your praying child with the love of your exalted mind,
དགོངས་པའི་ཀློང་ནས་ཐུགས་རྗེའི་རྩལ་ཕྱུངས་ལ། །
From your vast expanse of realization, let the power of your compassion burst out
མོས་ལྡན་བདག་གི་སྙིང་ལ་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། །
And flood my devoted heart with your blessing.
རྟགས་དང་མཚན་མ་མྱུར་དུ་སྟོན་པ་དང་། །
Quickly show the signs and symbols
མཆོག་དང་ཐུན་མོང་དངོས་གྲུབ་སྩལ་དུ་གསོལ། །
And grant me accomplishments ordinary and supreme
Of course, that is what came to mind because that is what Buddhism trains us to do. In Vajrayana the view we train in links us to re-interpret our world, to re-appraise it in terms of its benevolent possibilities, a language of elements and dakinis that is a link to present moment appreciations. This is so often done by rewiring the senses and the environment so that rain, wind, thunder, sky… our world becomes a cue for contemplative experience. Rivers that become prayers. Space that becomes mind. Even without much instruction, we can meditate like this sometimes in the most simple, intuitive ways, this is the brilliance of Dzogchen, and a message from an afternoon rain at Dakini Mountain. Just listening to the rain. Just feeling the wind. The environment can be a cue to be simple and present, and therefore rest our minds. Just those few moments of having a native peace. This is not even about eventual liberation, or what will happen in the future. Just a small island of peace and quiet that is for its own sake.
My very best to you always,
The Basic Space of Being With Pema Khandro and Khenpo Yeshi
The profound manual for liberating the mind
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
9am – 12:00pm San Francisco (PDT)
12pm – 3:00pm New York (EDT)
“Choying Dzod has also been used as a sacred introduction (ngo sprod)
for dying meditators. By reciting it, a practitioner introduces the person
passing away to his or her true nature and reminds him or her to remain
in the right mental state. Generally, the process of dying is the most crucial
experience in life, the time when we need the greatest support. It is
also a time when our mental attitudes can make a significant difference
in our future, because at the time of death we are suddenly free of the
bonds of our gross body and all its limitations.”
-Venerable Tulku Thondup Rinpoche
Study the profound Dzogchen manual for meditation and liberation. This text is read to a dying loved one, the crucial support at the most important time. It guides the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by two esteemed Dzogchen scholars, Khenpo Yeshi, and Dr. Pema Khandro. Experience the power of the coinciding of study and practice.
What are Ngondro meditations? Ngondro meditations are the foundational practices for purifying, training and empowering the body-mind. They form the basis of Vajrayana meditation and serve as the foundation for the highest practices of the nature of mind. Ngondro means ‘before going.’ In traditional Vajrayana practice, it represents the cognitive, physical, emotional and philosophical components which are keys to the practice liberation. These are done before engaging in Tantra or Dzogchen practices in order to set a stable foundation.
This module will focus on Intrinsic Wisdom including Receiving the Four Empowerments and Merging into Buddhahood.
Pema Khandro reserves Ngondro teachings for serious students who wish to do intensive contemplative training. Dedicated to training yogis, householders and lay people outside of the monastery, Pema Khandro presents these practices in their concise, essential form. This comprehensive course on Ngondro will be taught in four modules to support the accomplishment of practice over the period of one year, with the training modules completed in nine months.
It is possible to join Ngondro Training at any time, and it can be taken in any order. Join current modules live and take previous modules at your own pace.
Encounter the profound instructions of the trilogy of comfort and ease, the exposition on the stages of the journey by one of the great Tibetan philosopher, Longchenpa (1308-1364).
Experience three days of profound study and meditation in a three-day online retreat with Dr. Pema Khandro.
Cultivate states of rest and ease in a supportive community of joyful dharma friends.
Meditation in Dzogchen is a method of awakening to innate wisdom and unraveling the obstacles to experiencing it. This is a path of allowing intrinsic wakefulness to manifest through letting go, settling in and supporting the body and mind to discover natural calm.
The retreat three-day online retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Dr. Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. She will lead the study of and practice of the ngal gso skor gsum, Longchenpa’s trilogy on Finding Comfort and Ease.
How do ideas of true-self, finding one-self and being the authentic self relate to the Buddhist idea of an-atma, non-self? Listen to Pema Khandro discuss Buddhism’s view of the person as a dynamic presence rather than a fixed identity separate from the world and limited by the past.
Join Dr. Pema Khandro and your dharma friends for a deep study in the classics of Vajrayana & Dzogchen. These classes explore the depths of inner tantra, Tibetan yogas and Dzogchen philosophy through the eyes of the most brilliant masters of Buddhist history. Study. Discuss with dharma friends from around the world. Meet community leaders. Integrate practices directly in your own body, in your own mind!
New to meditation? Do you want to have a daily practice? You are not alone. Join this small group of fellow travelers for a daily dose of meditation! It is taught by the wonderful faculty at BSI. Daily Meditation Online
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
Choying Dzod Retreat With Pema Khandro and Khenpo Yeshi
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
9am – 12:00pm San Francisco (PDT)
12pm – 3:00pm New York (EDT)
Choying Dzod is the meaning of the innate nature of mind, dharmakaya.
It elucidates naked primordial wisdom without affirming or negating anything.
It is the heart essence of the visions of the Omniscient Lama Longchen Rabjam.
It is the most profound of all profound teachings.
It is the vivid arising of pure dharmakaya as the teaching.
This excellent teaching is a living buddha.
It fulfills the Buddha’s activities in this world.
It manifests the absolute vision of the Buddha.
Even if you were to see the Buddha in person, there would not be [any] greater teaching than this
– Paltrul Rinpoche
Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself, The Treasury of Basic Space is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by two esteemed Dzogchen scholars, Khenpo Yeshi, and Dr. Pema Khandro. Experience the power of the coinciding of study and practice.
Strengthen your Compassion for Self, Others & Your World.
Practice Ngondro in a Supportive Community.
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).
Intrinsic Wisdom. This module focuses on the key theme of Vajrayana, which is empowerment, to experience the power of the indestructible buddha nature 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.
Ngondro are the foundational tantric buddhist meditation practices. They include prayers, rituals, visualizations and meditations for purifying, training and empowering the body and mind.
Paying focused attention to the breath can help beginner and expert meditators by bringing them back to the present moment and reducing the influence of the “monkey mind“.
Join De’dzin Drolma and Namkhai Jigdral on the third Wednesday of the month for this accent practice that involves raising the body temperature to new levels using a combination of visualization, breathwork, and muscle tensing.
Finding Rest & Ease: In the Nature of Mind
Longchenpa’s Guide to Dzogchen with Pema Khandro
September 8-10 Online
8am – 12:30pm San Francisco (PDT)
11am – 3:30pm New York (EDT)
Encounter the profound instructions of the trilogy of comfort and ease, the exposition on the stages of the journey by one of the great Tibetan philosopher, Longchenpa (1308-1364). Experience three days of profound study and meditation in this three-day online retreat with Dr. Pema Khandro.
Lion’s Roar:The Four Points of Letting Go in the Bardo with Pema Khandro
“The bardo teachings are really about recognizing the value of giving up the game, which we play without even giving it a second thought.” Pema Khandro
In this article, Pema Khandro explains four essential points for understanding what it means to let go, and what is born when we do.
“Confusion is the raw material of wisdom.” Pema Khandro
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
The Basic Space of Being Dzogchen Retreat With Pema Khandro and Khenpo Yeshi
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
10am – 11:30pm San Francisco (PDT)
1pm – 2:30pm New York (EDT)
The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod), is the quintessential Dzogchen text written by the great fourteenth center Dzogchen master, Longchenpa. It refers to cho ying, the expanse of reality and pure experience of meaningfulness as the revelation of the ground of being.
Offered by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro for the first time through the Buddhist Studies Institute, you can experience and learn from the manual for meditation and liberation, which is also the text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death.
Read during dying, The Treasury of Basic Space offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.
The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of breakthrough meditation (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of sublime knowing.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text which will be given by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.
Finding Rest & Ease in the Nature of Mind with Pema Khandro
September 8-10, 2023 – Online
8am – 12:30pm San Francisco (PDT)
11am – 3:30pm New York (EDT)
The Annual Dzogchen Retreat Dive into the Depths of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) through the guide to the entire path written by Longchenpa
Encounter the profound instructions of the trilogy of comfort and ease, the exposition on the stages of the journey by one of the great Tibetan philosopher, Longchenpa (1308-1364.)
Experience three days of profound study and meditation in a three-day online retreat with Dr. Pema Khandro.
Cultivate states of rest and ease in a supportive community of joyful dharma friends.
This is a precious opportunity to experience the methods taught in Dzogchen meditation, Tibetan Buddhism’s most treasured path. Dzogchen means ‘Great Completion,’ because it focuses on the natural wisdom at the heart of every person. Even though each person has intrinsic goodness, states of chronic tension and fixation can impede its expression. Meditation in Dzogchen is a method of awakening to this wisdom and unraveling the obstacles to experiencing it. This is a path of allowing intrinsic wakefulness to manifest through letting go, settling in and supporting the body and mind to discover natural calm.
This online retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Dr. Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. She will lead the study of and practice of the ngal gso skor gsum, Longchenpa’s trilogy on Finding Comfort and Ease, a classic text of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which has been presented section by section annually for eight years at the Buddhist Studies Institute.
Paying focused attention to the breath can help beginner and expert meditators by bringing them back to the present moment and reducing the influence of the “monkey mind“.
Join De’dzin Drolma and Namkhai Jigdral on the third Wednesday of the month for discussion of this month’s teachings by Pema Khandro on this accent practice that involves raising the body temperature to new levels using a combination of visualization, breathwork, and abdominal holds.
Tibetan Buddhism in a Nutshell
by Dr. Pema Khandro
Who are you really? What underlies all persons? What is the true nature of mind?
Pema Khandro answers these questions and offers an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism.
With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
Join us for the 21 Taras. The twenty-one taras is a sublime chanting meditation and praise of the forms of the female Bodhisattva Tara, each one a contemplation of all the forms of compassion ranging from gentle to fierce. This event explores the outer, inner and secret meaning of the twenty-one taras. This will be a joyous fundraiser in honor of our beloved Pema Khandro Rinpoche’s birthday. Wednesday, December 4th 6 pm pt | 9 pm et
Online Dzogchen Teachings With Khenpo Yeshi and Pema Khandro
August 4-6, 2023 – Online
10am – 11:30pm San Francisco (PDT)
1pm – 2:30pm New York (EDT)
Join us for this once in a lifetime opportunity!
The Treasury of Basic Space is a manual for meditation and liberation, as well as being a text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death. Read during dying, it offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.
Khenpo Ngakchung recalls receiving this transmission from the great Tibetan teacher, Patrul Rinpoche.
…he said, “You are so lucky that you can study sitting down. I received these teachings [alone] from Paltrul Rinpoche at Dzogchen Kangtrod, at the expense of his sleep. If he sat down, he tended to fall asleep because of his advanced age, so I would walk backward holding the text in my hand for him, and he would teach me walking after me. The teachings continued in this way for many days and nights.” He continued, “Since it is said that Choying Dzod is the essence of all teachings, it was Rinpoche’s main meditation manual and it is supposed to be mine, too. Now, you must treasure this teaching in your heart….”
-Khenpo Ngakchung (1879-1941) recalling dialogues with Patrul Rinpoche
The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of “breakthrough meditation,” (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of beginningless knowing.
Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.
Join De’dzin Drolma and Namkhai Jigdral on the fourth Wednesday of the month for this accent practice that involves raising the body temperature to new levels using a combination of visualization, breathwork, and muscle tensing.
Paying focused attention to the breath can help beginner and expert meditators by bringing them back to the present moment and reducing the influence of the “monkey mind“.
From True Self to the Bare Fact of Being
Pema Khandro on Waking Up While Facing Crisis
“The idea of non-self is not just a philosophical or abstract issue. Quite practically – it could lead to seeing oneself in a way that fosters adaptability, fluidity and responsiveness.” – Pema Khandro for BuddhaDharma Quarterly