PEMA KHANDRO’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Every year on Pema Khandro’s birthday, the community celebrates together. This year, due to the pandemic, this event will be online we cordially invite you to join us on this special heart-felt occasion.

• White Tara practice led by Pema Khandro, 
• Tsok Offering led by the Group leaders
• A talk by Pema Khandro about her life’s work
• Performances by community members
• Pema Khandro appreciation ceremony
• Fundraising for Dakini Mountain

Birthday Wish

Pema Khandro’s birthday wish is for all the proceeds to go to the Dakini Mountain Emergency Fund.

Dakini Mountain is a retreat center that Pema Khandro dreamed about for decades and now it has come to fruition but relies on your support for its continuation. Due to the temporary suspension of group retreats at Dakini Mountain as a result of the pandemic, this year’s fundraiser is more important than ever! Join us for this opportunity to celebrate Pema Khandro’s birthday, fundraise for this amazing project and practice meditation and tsok together in a vibrant Vajrayana community.

Can’t come in person but still want to support the fundraiser? Register to join anyway, your donations are greatly appreciated and a thank you card with all the list of the donors will be read at the end to Pema Khandro of the evening!

Learn More

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NGONDRO TRAINING

This is the year you will finally finish Ngondro!

 

 Find Your Ground
Ngondro Training

Module 1
The Field of Buddhas

With Pema Khandro

 

Begins January 24th, 2022

 

Self Paced Classes

Live Webinars

Weekly Practice Group

Register Here

Ngondro is a series of Vajrayana meditation practices for cleansing, training and empowering the body-mind. Also known as the ‘tantric preliminaries,’ ngondro literally means ‘before going,’ referring to the training one needs to be on the path of liberation.

Ngondro also serves as the foundation for the highest practices of Tibetan Buddhism, it is the pre-requisite to Tsa-lung and Dzogchen practices. Ngondro represents the cognitive, physical, emotional and philosophical components which are keys to the practice of liberation.

Join the Ngondro Training at the first Live Webinar Class with Pema Khandro on January 24th 2022. Then get all your questions answered in the quarterly live classes with Pema Khandro.

Self Paced Classes and Webinars

with Pema Khandro

Ngondro self-paced classes and live webinars will be led by Lama Pema Khandro, scholar and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. Khandro-la’s teachings emphasize Buddhist philosophy and practice from a trauma-informed, feminist perspective that engages tradition with the great questions of our time. Classes with Pema Khandro will be given by self-paced videos and live meetings once a quarter, with practice sessions led in between by Tsalgyur.

 Register Here

New for 2022:

Monday Nights
Ngondro Practice
Led by Tsalgyur

Ngondro students can enjoy support to accomplish the accumulations with a weekly online practice group. It is optional to join with your ngondro community every Monday night in Ngondro practice led by Tsalgyur. 

 

Also foster community through signing up for accountability partner to support each other through the journey. 

About Tsal’gyur Dorje Tsalgyur has been studying with Pema Khandro  since 2005. She is the Membership Co-ordinator and Registrar for the Buddhist Studies Institute, and has been on the leadership team for Ngakpa International since 2012. Tsal’gyur is a certified Yoga Instructor, Meditation Teacher, and Teaching Assistant in the school. Having danced professionally for 10 years, she now teaches ballet, yoga, and meditation in group classes and private lessons.

Register Here

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THANGKAS FOR SALE

The Perfect Christmas Gift!

Benefit Dakini Mountain
Benefit Your Meditation Practice
Benefit the Thangka Painters in Nepal

Several beautiful Thangkas and silk brocades were hand selected and brought to us by our good friend James Aplington (aka Thankga Jim) and the Lotus Gallery in Nepal.  As a way to help develop Dakini Mountain, they will donate half of the profit of these rare Thangkas to the development of Dakini Mountain.

Click Here for Pricing and Photos

To request one of these Thangkas or for more information, please email Info@BuddhistStudiesInstitute.org.

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UPCOMING EVENTS & OTHER NEWS

Daily & Weekly Programs

• Daily Meditation, Free Every Day at 12 PT / 3pm ET Taught by many wonderful certified Meditation Instructors!
• RESUMING IN THE NEW YEAR: Vajrayana Training, Ngakpa Training, Open Teaching, and Umdze Training – Wednesday nights 6pm PT / 9pm ET

December

• Dec 15, 6pm PT / 9pm ET, Pema Khandro’s Birthday Celebration
• Dec 26-29, 17th Sakyadhita Conference, Pema Khandro as Guest Presenter

January – Next Ngondro Training Cycle Begins in January!!!

• Jan 24, 2022, Ngondro Training – Module 1 The Field of Buddhas

March – Next MIT begins in March!

• Mar 26, 2022, Meditation Instructor Training Begins, Details TBA

As more details roll out for our Upcoming Events, please visit the Event List Here.

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SELF-PACED COURSES

Buddhist Ethics

with Pema Khandro

Self-Paced Course Online

Open Teaching – No Prerequisites

The Five Buddhist Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, openness and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the uncommon, extraordinary perspective of non-duality.

Topics covered in this course include

• Buddhist theories about vegetarian lifestyle vs. meat-eating, 
• Buddhist perspectives on alcohol and drug use, 
• Conscious use of sexual energy, Buddhist philosophy about desire
• Handling resources, money and spirituality
• Honesty, and the speech that takes us beyond confusion.

Register Now

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PEMA KHANDRO ON LION’S ROAR

Open Your Heart Further

By Pema Khandro Rinpoche | June 16th, 2020

 

Pema Khandro Rinpoche on cultivating the boundless love of a bodhisattva.

 

Read Now

Dear Friends and Members,

You are invited to join an online celebration of Pema Khandro’s birthday this coming Wednesday, Dec 15, at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

The event will include a White Tara practice led by Pema Khandro and she will talk about her life and work.  Personally, I love the White Tara practice, which is for the purpose of fostering world peace and healing from calamities.  I’m especially looking forward to hearing Pema Khandro speak of her life and work.  I hope you will be able to attend.

For those of you who would like to make a birthday offering, Pema Khandro has asked that donations be made to benefit Dakini Mountain, the new Retreat center in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

You can register for Pema Khandro’s Birthday Celebration at the link below.  If you cannot attend but wish to make a birthday gift offering, you can do that also at the same link.

Pema Khandro’s Birthday Celebration

The Dakini Mountain fundraising campaign for 2021 has brought in $30,900 of the $50,000 goal.  Thank you for your support and generosity!  

Only $19,100 more is needed to complete the 2021 goal.  We’re in the homestretch!

Dakini Mountain is the physical center of the vision of Pema Khandro.  It’s a vision of Buddhism flourishing in the 21st century and beyond.  It’s a vision based on the timeless Buddhist teachings of liberation and compassion merging with a modern context of revitalized ethics, empathy training, nonviolent communication, gender equality, and respect for diversity.

Please support Dakini Mountain.  Help keep the Buddhist teachings and the vision of Pema Khandro strong and vibrant.

Thank you!

Gifts can also be made by check, payable to Ngakpa International, and mailed to Dakini Mountain, P.O. Box 2396, Nevada City, California 95959, USA.

Ngakpa International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN 68-0529687 and all gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information about Dakini Mountain, visit www.DakiniMountain.org

Wishing you a happy holiday season,

Janak

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dakini Mountain Retreat Center

P.O. Box 2396

Nevada City, California 95946

USA

PEMA KHANDRO’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Dear Friends and Members,

Today is Giving Tuesday.  

As we enter this holiday season that some call the Season of Giving, it’s a good time to ask ourselves:  

“What causes are most important to me?” 

“How can I make a difference?”

I’m reminded of the holiday classic movie – It’s a Wonderful Life. Considered one of the greatest movies of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life came out in 1946 starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey.  

It’s a poignant story that provides inspiration and hope when the world, either your own personal one, or the world at large, looks far too bleak and discouraging.

George Bailey is a good man in a world that is essentially not different from our own, which is to say, there are many sad problems that create a great deal of suffering.  Adding to the pain, we see that most of the suffering is unnecessary, the result of a lack of wisdom and an abundance of bad actions.

George keeps doing good things.  It’s just who he is.  For example, he uses his personal savings to keep the local bank afloat.  He then uses the financial power of the bank to provide affordable housing for his community.  He does many good things but keeps running into hard luck and powerful corruption that eventually brings him to his knees.  So distraught, he decides to end it all and jump off a bridge, but when someone else falls off the bridge in front of him, he instead jumps in to rescue that person.

In the story, an angel intervenes and we come to the point of the movie where the angel shows George what the world would be like if George had never existed.  George thought his life was pointless, but instead, is shocked to see that the level of suffering in people’s lives is so much greater in a world without him.

This is how I feel about our lives as Buddhist practitioners and people who support Buddhism.  We want to relieve all suffering, our own and others, and sometimes it seems like we fail.

But I have come to firmly believe that our efforts have great effect beyond what is obvious.  One thing that makes me believe this is that when I am around Pema Khandro or others who exemplify ethics and genuine love and compassion, I become a better person.  And when I am a better person, I have seen that I have this same influence on others.  It’s not really complicated.  Goodness begets goodness and the power of goodness is unlimited.

If you feel like me that Buddhism and the teaching of Pema Khandro in particular, make a great difference in this world (Reason 5 for those who have been following the series), now is the time your support is needed.

Giving Tuesday Means You Care.   We are continuing to raise funds to support and sustain Dakini Mountain, the physical center of Pema Khandro’s work in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

Since the beginning of Buddhism, centers like this have been critical to keeping Buddhism alive and vital.  Many of you who have been to a Buddhist holy place know that such places can change your life, open your eyes to your potential and instill the momentum to bring your potential to reality.

$28,000 of the 2021 fundraising goal of $50,000 to cover critical maintenance, property tax and insurance costs for Dakini Mountain has been met.  $22,000 more is needed.

Giving Tuesday is today.  Please support Dakini Mountain.  Help keep the Buddhist teachings and the vision of Pema Khandro strong and vibrant.

Thank you! 

Gifts can also be made by check, payable to Ngakpa International, and mailed to Dakini Mountain, P.O. Box 2396, Nevada City, California 95959, USA.

Ngakpa International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN 68-0529687 and all gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information about Dakini Mountain, visit www.DakiniMountain.org

Wishing you a happy holiday season,

Janak

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dakini Mountain Retreat Center

P.O. Box 2396

Nevada City, California 95946

USA

Dear Friends and Members,

Dear Friends and Members,

Today I will give a third reason to support Dakini Mountain and the work of Pema Khandro.

Reason 3

You want to take the advanced teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism and support others to do the same.

Due to the benefits of modern technology, many of you have participated in the robust offerings of Internet classes given by Pema Khandro through the Buddhist Studies Institute, bringing the shedra, the classical training in Buddhist Philosophy to you right in your homes.  And yet there is more.  There are advanced teachings that must be given in person, the annual retreats that rely on our retreat center. With your help, Dakini Mountain is the place where those retreats will happen.

I’ll give you a fourth reason to donate for Giving Tuesday soon, but you don’t have to wait.

You can donate right now.

Thank you! 

Gifts can also be made by check, payable to Ngakpa International, and mailed to Dakini Mountain, P.O. Box 2396, Nevada City, California 95959, USA.

Ngakpa International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN 68-0529687 and all gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information about Dakini Mountain, visit www.DakiniMountain.org

Wishing you a happy holiday season,

Janak

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dakini Mountain Retreat Center

P.O. Box 2396

Nevada City, California 95946

USA

Dear Friends and Members,

Giving Tuesday is coming soon.  Today, I will give a second reason to support Dakini Mountain and the work of Pema Khandro.

Reason 2

You care about Pema Khandro and want her work to flourish.

If you are receiving this email, you have most likely taken teachings from Pema Khandro.  If you have found her to be someone you care about and want to support, this is a great reason to support Dakini Mountain, a cause close to her heart. Pema Khandro can’t do it alone, she relies on the whole community to help make all of our projects possible, and most especially Dakini Mountain. 

I’ll give you a third reason to donate for Giving Tuesday soon, but you don’t have to wait.

You can donate right now.

Thank you! 

Gifts can also be made by check, payable to Ngakpa International, and mailed to Dakini Mountain, P.O. Box 2396, Nevada City, California 95959, USA.

Ngakpa International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN 68-0529687 and all gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information about Dakini Mountain, visit www.DakiniMountain.org

Wishing you a happy holiday season,

Janak

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dakini Mountain Retreat Center

P.O. Box 2396

Nevada City, California 95946

USA

Dear Friends and Members,

Giving Tuesday is in 7 days.  Over this week,  I will give 5 reasons to support Dakini Mountain and the work of Pema Khandro.

Reason 1

You want to support gender equality in Buddhism.

If you are familiar with Pema Khandro and her Buddhist school, you know about her earnest efforts to promote the cause of women in Buddhism. (And you have seen her constant efforts to promote respect and inclusion for all vulnerable people!)  The leadership of women has historically been underrepresented and historically disadvantaged in the Buddhist tradition and in religions all across the world. Pema Khandro, being herself one of the few female lamas and female tulkus promotes gender equality in Buddhism through her perseverance against all odds, and despite many obstacles. She has even led a women-run dharma organization for two decades. She has campaigned for education about women and been a leader in teachings about ethics and protecting women from harm. These are subjects she brings up in every teaching. Even her scholarship has been dedicated to promoting women in Buddhism. And she has the  awareness of the value that women leaders have to offer in today’s world.

You can donate right now to support Pema Khandro’s pioneering efforts.

I’ll give you another reason to donate for Giving Tuesday soon, but you don’t have to wait.

Thank you!

Gifts can also be made by check, payable to Ngakpa International, and mailed to Dakini Mountain, P.O. Box 2396, Nevada City, California 95959, USA.

Ngakpa International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN 68-0529687 and all gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information about Dakini Mountain, visit www.DakiniMountain.org

Wishing you a happy holiday season,

Janak

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dakini Mountain Retreat Center

P.O. Box 2396

Nevada City, California 95946

USA

Dear Friends and Members,

Thank you for being part of the 2021 Dakini Mountain Fundraising drive.  Thanks to people like you, we are now past the halfway point of $28,000 raised.  $22,000 more will complete the $50,000 goal.

We are in the homestretch entering the traditional holiday season of giving, November and December.

As you consider what causes you want to support in this year, please keep Dakini Mountain on your list.

Dakini Mountain is the physical center of the vision of Pema Khandro.  It’s a vision of  Buddhism flourishing in the 21st century and beyond.  It’s a vision based on the timeless Buddhist teachings of liberation and compassion merging with a modern context of revitalized ethics, empathy training, nonviolent communication, gender equality, and respect for diversity.

Some day, perhaps in the not distant future, you will come to Dakini Mountain.  As Dakini Mountain develops, it will be a place to revitalize your personal inspiration, a place to rest and recover, a place to deepen your practice of the Buddhist way of life.  Such places can change your life. Such places definitely make society a better place.

Please support Dakini Mountain.  Help keep the Buddhist teachings and the vision of Pema Khandro strong and vibrant.

Any donation you can make, large or small, makes a difference.

Thank you!

Also, long term financial support is needed now for the Dakini Mountain loan refinancing.  If you have the ability to be a loan guarantor or participate in estate planning or legacy giving, there are many ways you could help. 

Refinancing to reduce the costs of Dakini Mountain is a top priority for this year, but one to three more loan guarantors are needed. For more information on becoming a guarantor or legacy giving, please reply to this email.  

You can also find more information at 

https://buddhiststudiesinstitute.org/planned-giving/

Gifts can also be made by check, payable to Ngakpa International, and mailed to Dakini Mountain, P.O. Box 2396, Nevada City, California 95959, USA.

Ngakpa International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN 68-0529687 and all gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information about Dakini Mountain, visit www.DakiniMountain.org

Wishing you joy and happiness,

Janak

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dakini Mountain Retreat Center

P.O. Box 2396

Nevada City, California 95946

USA

COMMUNITY LIVING AT DAKINI MOUNTAIN