NGONDRO TRAINING

Dear Friends and Members,

I don’t consider myself a historian but what I have learned about the history of Buddhism has often been quite surprising to me.

One thing I didn’t know was that about 200 years after the Buddha lived, Buddhism was a very small sect in the great Indian subcontinent.  Who knows, perhaps it could have died out.  

But someone took an interest in Buddhism and changed the course of history and, perhaps you could even say, made it possible for you and I to study and practice Buddhism today.

Who was this person?  His name was Ashoka and he was the emperor of India from 265 BCE until his death in 238 BCE, about 30 years.  

Ashoka was one of the most religious political leaders of all time.  And he was a man of action, particularly when it came to the Buddhist teachings.  He is said to have built 84,000 stupas and monasteries throughout India, sponsoring vast amounts of religious activity and fostering Buddhism to become a very strong religion in terms of people practicing it and the infrastructure to support that practice.  Some even credit him with making Buddhism a dominant religion throughout Asia as he was the first to send significant missionaries to other countries.

From what I’ve seen of Buddhist history, it is evident to me that Buddhism waxes and wanes depending primarily on material support.  Perhaps that seems a surprising or controversial statement.  

Of course, Buddhism depends greatly on exemplary leaders who teach and sincere practitioners who practice.  We need great leaders and practitioners to keep Buddhism a living religion and one of integrity.  

And patrons are absolutely necessary to fund Buddhist monasteries, pilgrimage sites, teaching organizations, art, texts, and even things like websites in today’s world.

That’s why I’m asking you to be a patron of Dakini Mountain, the new Buddhist Retreat Center in Northern California founded by Pema Khandro.  The history of Buddhism continues, thankfully; it’s being made right now and you can be part of it.

Patrons are needed and will be needed for as long as Buddhism exists.  In today’s world, we do not have Emperor Ashoka but we have you and me.   And together, our patronage makes a difference.  Really, that’s all there is, people like us, who have the opportunity to support these teachings to continue and to flourish. 

If you feel as I do that there is immense value and benefit for us as individuals and for us as the community of beings on this earth from the Buddhist teachings, and in particular the Buddhist teachings given by Pema Khandro, I ask for your support.

Funds are needed for critical maintenance, property tax and insurance.  Already over $15,000 has been raised for 2021.  On behalf of Dakini Mountain, the Buddhist Studies Institute and the nonprofit organization, Ngakpa International, I’d like to give a profound “thank you!” to all who have already contributed and gotten this project as far as it has already come.  

$35,000 more is needed now to make the 2021 Dakini Mountain budget of $50,000.  Any amount you give, large or small, makes a difference.  Thank you!

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

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.

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

EXCELLENT PATH

Excellent Path

With Pema Khandro

Buddhist Philosophy Online – Open Teaching Webcast

September 22nd, 6-6:30pm PT | 9-9:30pm ET

A 30 minute guided meditation and online teaching with Pema Khandro. Free and open to the public.

This is a monthly class to support your meditation practice and meet the challenge of integrating meditation into a full, dynamic life. This class will include meditation instruction, Buddhist teachings, and remedies for navigating through challenges to practice.

Learn More

NGONDRO TRAINING

Ngondro Training – Module 4 – Intrinsic Wisdom

with Pema Khandro

Sept 28-30th, 1-3pm PT | 4-6pm 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.

Learn More

MEDITATION INSTRUCTOR TRAINING

Meditation Instructor Training

150 Hour Certification Training with Pema Khandro

Registration Is Open NOW

Oct 30th 2021 – Feb 26th 2022

About Meditation Instructor Training:

• Robust, 150 hours of In-Depth Training
• Self-Paced Curriculum & Live Classes
• Teaching Practicum & Weekly Mentoring
• Traditional Meditation + Buddhist Philosophy + Buddhist Ethics
• Completely Traditional + Completely Current
• For Teachers Facing A Diverse Tumultuous World

The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives.

People all over the world have turned to Buddhist meditation as a source of wisdom. Meditation offers a powerful method to access a sense of spaciousness, peace and authentic presence.

The practical benefits of meditation are well documented. Research shows it improves mood, reduces stress (Brown & Warren 2003), it improves memory, visuospatial reasoning, sustained attention and executive brain function (Zeidan et al. 2010). It reduces sub-clinical depression and anxiety (Schreiner and Malcolm 2012).

From a Buddhist point of view, when we know how to meditate, we learn how to work with mind and emotions. We have a practice for unraveling conditioned scripts and unconscious habits. Meditation is a pathway to discovering human goodness by making peace with our mind. Ultimately it is a method for getting free from dissatisfaction, resolving confusion and waking up to see reality more clearly.

Learn More

UPCOMING EVENTS

Daily & Weekly Programs

• Daily Meditation, Free Every Day at 12 PT / 3pm ET
• Vajrayana Training, Ngakpa Training, Open Teaching, and Umdze Training (Except during retreats and training or other special events) – Wednesday nights 6pm PT / 9pm ET

September 

• Sept 28-30th Ngondro Module 4 – Intrinsic Wisdom

October

• Oct 16th, Vajra Sangha Retreat with Pema Khandro – Details TBA
• Oct 30-Feb 26, 2022, Meditation Instructor Training

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

Letter from Pema Khandro

“The spotless dharmakāya, luminous and clear, 

Is the buddha nature of all beings, 

Yet through their ignorance and clinging, 

They wander in the cycle of existence. 

In the wilderness of karma and defilement 

They stray in weariness. 

Today I will bring rest to their exhausted minds.”1

What if rivers, sky and ocean could wash away our suffering? What if our breath could liberate our minds? How can the body help us return to the basic sanity of what we already are? They are the questions that ring out from Dzogchen texts. They are profound questions about something so near and dear to us, our own suffering and the path to freedom from it. Moments of freedom from our own suffering really matter. Just to have relief for sometime. To lift the gaze and see the blue sky. To have a few days of being very calm in retreat or while sitting by a river.

I remember once sitting on a mountain top during a retreat, practicing the Separating Samsara and Nirvana practice and I noticed that how I was on that mountain top was different than how I was in my camper a few hours earlier. Something about the mountain, something about the space and that meditation opened me up further. Things felt more quiet and grand, simple and epic all at once. It was one of those moments we can have as human beings, with body as the sensitive instrument to interpret our world. Little moments like this are a good basis, like a food that nourishes us. But there is something that is difficult about remaining in them and finding them again. It is why we need training, and to take time out to practice. We need moments of freedom and moments of relief, but we also need the training necessary to be able to find that reliably – wherever we are, whatever is taking place. So that we can give that peace to ourselves as a medicine.

We do have a path forward from any moment of suffering, it is a way in and it is a way through at the same time. Dzogchen meditation often refers to body, speech and mind, the three gates, the three doors. This is how we practice meditation, it is a whole body affair. The body with all its horrors and beauties comes along. Emotion and speech in tow, not left behind. And mind engaged, compelled by our chosen object of focus. It takes some training on how to use the three doors, but we can gain confidence and find stability.

How often does it happen in our lives, where we synchronize the three doors in a state of settled peace, where the light of the three-fold awareness is on and focused in the same direction? Very rarely, despite it being such a relief. There is often a little part of us somewhere else and it could be that way for good reason. Sometimes where we are is very, very difficult. How things are can be overwhelming. Sometimes, absence is a coping mechanism because it is the best we can do. Being present is not so easy in a landscape of collective trauma, impending doom and bitter divides. Absence, denial, cutting off, tuning out, vegging out – it is understandable and even at times necessary. But there are better ways that relieve our suffering – more long-term solutions. It is something we attune deeply to in retreat – the wish to unravel our suffering at the root, doing the time, taking the actual time it takes to become an expert on our own state of being, to train well and find integrity with our own presence. It is good to find comfort and ease. It is why we retreat. To retreat is a pause from all our wandering to explore the basic energies that fuel our lives, to show up compassionately to what we are.

As we prepare for our annual Dzogchen retreat this weekend, I feel grateful to have this space to go deep together, to explore the wilderness of mind and the landscape body through these gentle, poetic and profound methods. Having survived the wildfires and the pandemic, it seems the most soothing and wonderful thing to do.

And particularly, to continue our annual retreat despite the obstacles of the last couple years, seems like a good omen, a spot of hope and optimism. Here is what we have planned:

• We will open with the lineage supplication, mandala offering and other lovely opening prayers led by the community.

• Every morning for three mornings, I will lead a study of Longchenpa’s Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind as well as leading the semdzin, the holding onto the nature of mind practices.

• In the afternoon, our group leaders will lead community tea time, restorative yoga and Heart Sutra chanting. There will be Tsa lung practices, the inner yogas.

• Riwo Sangcho in the morning and short dream yoga in the evenings.

• There will be an evening time for dialogue and Q&A with me.

• One of my favorite parts of every retreat is the closing circle just before the end where we all talk.

• We will end by dedicating the merit to our loved ones. There will be instructions for how to sign up to do this.

• There are some parts of the retreat with cameras on and some with cameras off. We will let you know. Of course, you can always do what is best for you. This is not a caravan of despair and if you can come on camera, that is such a nice part of the retreat for all of us.

• I will offer the private meetings following the retreat.

• There is also an optional (but encouraged) fast from social media, with an optional conscious use of social media period in the evening time.

• We encourage you to take a weekend of silence during the breaks from the retreat if it is appropriate for you, so that even though you are at home, you are still in an inwardly focused place and taking a rest.

For the retreat, please prepare a place to practice throughout that is as quiet and undisturbed as possible. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just the best you can do is fine. A closet, a tent in the backyard, be creative and find a good space. I suggest having a small shrine set up there with a picture of a buddha and a candle and/or incense if you can. We use a photo or painting of Samantabhadra in consort; this is the symbol of Dzogchen. You can use whatever you have that uplifts your mind, it helps meditation to have an inspiring space.

I send millions of White Tara mantras out to all those who have been affected by covid and the wildfires that were north and south of Dakini Mountain. May all these beings find relief, rest and ultimate peace.

I look forward to seeing you this weekend, our beloved friends, sangha and members.

My very best to you always,

1. Longchenpa. Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind: Trilogy of Rest, Volume 1 . Shambhala. Kindle Edition.

DZOGCHEN RETREAT

DZOGCHEN RETREAT

Dear Friends and Members,

How rich is your life in terms of friendship?  What does friendship mean to you?  Is it a two-way street where there are times you delight in meeting a friend and at other times, you don’t really want to interact, but you do it as an offering, an act of generosity?

I like it when my understanding of things – friendship, for example, – is closely tied to the Buddhist teachings because that’s where I have the most confidence.  

Years ago, I got this teaching from Pema Khandro:  “Once a friend, always a friend.”  

I didn’t think too deeply about it at first.  It seemed nice but not as important as something like how to be a better meditator.  Over the years, though, I’ve found great beauty and richness in this teaching about friendship.

Firstly, it gave me a way to view the people that came up in my memory.  

Does that happen to you?  I mean, I’m retired, so maybe I have more time on my hands than you do. I keep finding that people from the past just pop up in my thoughts.  Some of these people were good and loving to me and some, well, not so much.  

But now I know how to think of them.  I don’t have to weigh things.  If they were once my friend – if they were ever my friend – then they are still my friend.  That’s how I think of them.  I tell you from this practice I feel like I have an extreme abundance of friends!

Of course, I know the opposite of this practice.  I could think of someone and then ponder, “Maybe they really weren’t that good of a friend.  Maybe they really did me wrong when such and such happened!”  I know that this negative view could be true and some things that go down are pretty intense and even horrible.  Maybe if we find ourselves in that situation, healing work is needed.

But I’ve found that “Once a friend, always a friend” takes care of a lot.  I don’t have to figure it all out.  I just remember that once there was some level of friendship and that’s what I will remember, that’s what I will feel for that person.

I find that combining teachings like “Once a friend, always a friend” with the other Buddhist practices that stimulate love and compassion is a force to be reckoned with.  This reminds me of another phrase that I also learned from Pema Khandro: “Through love and compassion, mindstream must evolve.” 

As I look around and sometimes wonder (ok, maybe often wonder) if we are all headed in the right direction, I remember my personal power, so to speak.  If I can manifest love and compassion, the mindstream of all beings will be influenced to evolve in a good way.  I believe love and compassion are the most powerful of all the forces at play.  That’s what Buddhism is all about.  That’s why the Dalai Lama said, “My religion is kindness.”

If you feel as I do that there is immense value and benefit for us as individuals and for us as the community of beings here on this earth that come from the Buddhist teachings, and in particular the Buddhist teachings given by Pema Khandro, I ask you to support this work financially.

Right now, fundraising is in progress for the new Retreat Center, Dakini Mountain.  Power centers like Dakini Mountain have always been a major influence on whether or not Buddhism will flourish in this world.  

And Dakini Mountain needs your friendship in the form of donations.  Funds are needed for critical maintenance, property tax and insurance.  Already over $15,000 has been raised.  On behalf of Dakini Mountain and our Buddhist school, Buddhist Studies Institute and our Nonprofit organization, Ngakpa International, I’d like to give a big “thank you!” to all who have contributed.  

$35,000 more is needed now to make the 2021 Dakini Mountain budget of $50,000.  Any amount you give, large or small, makes a difference.

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

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.

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

DZOGCHEN RETREAT

Dzogchen Meditation Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro

September 17-19th, 10am – 6pm PT | 1pm – 9pm ET

This retreat focuses on the paradox of resting in buddha-nature and recognizing illusions. It offers support for exploring Buddhist philosophy experientially through alternating dharma study and practice.

The retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. As a special event during the pandemic, Pema Khandro will lead the study of and practice of the sems nyid ngal gso, Longchenpa’s instructions on Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind, a classic text of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This retreat is led entirely online, with alternating sessions of group practice, small group discussions, yoga, meditation, lectures, question and answer sessions with Pema Khandro and private meetings at the end.

This is an OPEN retreat. Register to come to any or all of the retreat days.

Learn More

EXCELLENT PATH

Excellent Path

with Pema Khandro

Buddhist Philosophy Online – Open Teaching Webcast

Sept 22nd, 6-6:30pm PT | 9-9:30pm ET

A 30 minute guided meditation and online teaching with Pema Khandro.

Free and open to the public.

This is a monthly class to support your meditation practice and meet the challenge of integrating meditation into a full, dynamic life. This class will include meditation instruction, Buddhist teachings, and remedies for navigating through challenges to practice.

Learn More

NGONDRO TRAINING

Ngondro Training – Module 4 – Intrinsic Wisdom

with Pema Khandro

Sept 28-30th, 1-3pm PT | 4-6pm 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.

Learn More

MEDITATION INSTRUCTOR TRAINING

Meditation Instructor Training

150 Hour Certification Training with Pema Khandro

Registration Is Open NOW

Oct 30th 2021 – Feb 26th 2022

About Meditation Instructor Training:

• Robust, 150 hours of In-Depth Training
• Self-Paced Curriculum & Live Classes
• Teaching Practicum & Weekly Mentoring
• Traditional Meditation + Buddhist Philosophy + Buddhist Ethics
• Completely Traditional + Completely Current
• For Teachers Facing A Diverse Tumultuous World

The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives.

People all over the world have turned to Buddhist meditation as a source of wisdom. Meditation offers a powerful method to access a sense of spaciousness, peace and authentic presence.

The practical benefits of meditation are well documented. Research shows it improves mood, reduces stress (Brown & Warren 2003), it improves memory, visuospatial reasoning, sustained attention and executive brain function (Zeidan et al. 2010). It reduces sub-clinical depression and anxiety (Schreiner and Malcolm 2012).

From a Buddhist point of view, when we know how to meditate, we learn how to work with mind and emotions. We have a practice for unraveling conditioned scripts and unconscious habits. Meditation is a pathway to discovering human goodness by making peace with our mind. Ultimately it is a method for getting free from dissatisfaction, resolving confusion and waking up to see reality more clearly.

Learn More

UPCOMING EVENTS

Daily & Weekly Programs

• Daily Meditation, Free Every Day at 12 PT / 3pm ET
• Vajrayana Training, Ngakpa Training, Open Teaching, and Umdze Training (Except during retreats and training or other special events) – Wednesday nights 6pm PT / 9pm ET

September 

• Sept 17-19th Annual Dzogchen Retreat with Pema Khandro
• Sept 28-30th Ngondro Module 4 – Intrinsic Wisdom

October

• Oct 16th, Vajra Sangha Retreat with Pema Khandro – Details TBA
• Oct 30-Feb 26, 2022, Meditation Instructor Training

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

Dear Friends and Members,

Congratulations and a hearty thank you to all who have helped raise the first segment of the 2021 Dakini Mountain Fundraising goal, $15,500.  We have done it!

Dakini Mountain is the new Buddhist Retreat Center in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California founded by Pema Khandro.

The critical funds you donated will help keep Dakini Mountain fire safe through this fire season and beyond.

We are so fortunate to be able to meet and get the Buddhist teachings online in today’s world.  If you came to all the online teachings provided by the Buddhist Studies Institute, you could attend one every day and an additional 4 or more per month with Pema Khandro Rinpoche.  It’s an incredible resource for those who love Buddhism and want support in their practice.

Yes, the blessing of online teaching is miraculous and abundant, and at the same time, I can’t help but remember the unique power of in-person meetings with the Lama and other practitioners.

Attending a live empowerment with sonorous Tibetan trumpets, resounding drumbeats and ringing cymbals, combined with the sound of mantras, the visual display of mudras and the ensuing stillness is not easily duplicated.

Many of us have vivid memories of being at Dakini Mountain – extraordinary Dharma conversations on the Lodge patio; lying in the Dakini Mountain meadow looking up at the sky in Dzogchen sky gazing practice; dining, laughing and meditating together.

I hope we can all come to Dakini Mountain in the not too distant future and have these experiences again.  If you haven’t already been there, I hope you will come.  The next Dakini Mountain Retreat is planned for early June 2022.

In the meantime, critical financial support is needed to complete the overall Dakini Mountain fundraising goal of $50,000 for 2021.

These funds will be used to pay for essential maintenance, insurance and property tax.  Perhaps these are not glamorous but they are absolutely necessary.

Please help by making a donation, large or small. You will be helping to keep Buddhism alive in today’s world.

Thank you!  And I hope to see you at Dakini Mountain!

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

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.

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

DAKINI DAY CHOD

Dakini Day Chod – Laughter of the Dakinis

with Pema Khandro

September 1st, 1-3pm PT | 4-6pm ET

Chod is a meditation method through meeting fear and neurosis with compassion and skill. Rather than renounce these mind states, in Chod, they are allowed to transform and be reintegrated as keys to innate wisdom.

Meditation and Instructions on letting go of fictions and self-deception in Tibetan Chod meditation. A link to the text will be shared during the program.

Register Now

DZOGCHEN RETREAT

Dzogchen Meditation Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro

September 17-19th, 10am – 6pm PT | 1pm – 9pm ET

This retreat focuses on the paradox of resting in buddha-nature and recognizing illusions. It offers support for exploring Buddhist philosophy experientially through alternating dharma study and practice. The retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. As a special event during the pandemic, Pema Khandro will lead the study of and practice of the sems nyid ngal gso, Longchenpa’s instructions on Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind, a classic text of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This retreat is led entirely online, with alternating sessions of group practice, small group discussions, yoga, meditation, lectures, question and answer sessions with Pema Khandro and private meetings at the end.

Register Now

UPCOMING EVENTS

Daily & Weekly Programs

• Daily Meditation, Free Every Day at 12 PT / 3pm ET
• Vajrayana Training, Ngakpa Training, Open Teaching, and Umdze Training (Except during retreats and training or other special events) – Wednesday nights 6pm PT / 9pm ET

September 

• Sept 1st Dakini Day Chod
• Sept 17-19th Annual Dzogchen Retreat with Pema Khandro
• Sept 28-30th Ngondro Module 4 – Intrinsic Wisdom

October

• Oct 30-Feb 26, 2022, Meditation Instructor Training – Details TBA

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

EXCELLENT PATH

Excellent Path

with Pema Khandro

Buddhist Philosophy Online – Open Teaching Webcast

August 25th, 6 – 6:30pm PT | 9 – 9:30pm ET

A 30 minute guided meditation and online teaching with Pema Khandro.

Free and open to the public.

This is a monthly class to support your meditation practice and meet the challenge of integrating meditation into a full, dynamic life. This class will include meditation instruction, Buddhist teachings, and remedies for navigating through challenges to practice.

Register Now

DAKINI DAY CHOD

Dakini Day Chod – Laughter of the Dakinis

with Pema Khandro

September 1st, 1-3pm PT | 4-6pm ET

Meditation and Instructions on letting go of fictions and self-deception in Tibetan Chod meditation. A link to the text will be shared during the program.

Chod is a meditation method through meeting fear and neurosis with compassion and skill. Rather than renounce these mind states, in Chod, they are allowed to transform and be reintegrated as keys to innate wisdom.

Register Now

DZOGCHEN RETREAT

Dzogchen Meditation Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro

September 17-19th, 10am – 6pm PT | 1pm – 9pm ET

This retreat focuses on the paradox of resting in buddha-nature and recognizing illusions. It offers support for exploring Buddhist philosophy experientially through alternating dharma study and practice. The retreat is led by Buddhist scholar and teacher, Pema Khandro, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute. As a special event during the pandemic, Pema Khandro will lead the study of and practice of the sems nyid ngal gso, Longchenpa’s instructions on Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind, a classic text of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This retreat is led entirely online, with alternating sessions of group practice, small group discussions, yoga, meditation, lectures, question and answer sessions with Pema Khandro and private meetings at the end.

Register Now

UPCOMING EVENTS

Daily & Weekly Programs

• Daily Meditation, Free Every Day at 12 PT / 3pm ET
• Vajrayana Training, Ngakpa Training, Open Teaching, and Umdze Training (Except during retreats and training or other special events) – Wednesday nights 6pm PT / 9pm ET

September 

• Sept 1st Dakini Day Chod
• Sept 17-19th Annual Dzogchen Retreat with Pema Khandro
• Sept 28-30th Ngondro Module 4 – Intrinsic Wisdom

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