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.

Letter from Pema Khandro

“When the fog of excessive conceptualization enshrouds you, consult these noble works, and the vajra of timeless awareness found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will knock down the walls of concepts based on confusion.”

Dear Dharma Friends,

We are preparing for a celebration of Dzogchen next week. You may remember that Dzogchen Heart Essence transmissions started with a woman and a little girl, the first two recipients of the lineage from Padmasambhava. The first to receive it was Yeshe Tsogyal and then Pemasel.  According to the legend, in his past lives, the great master Longchenpa first received the Dzogchen teachings as a young girl, Pemasel, who died at an early age. She was revived but only for long enough to receive a transmission from Padmasambhava and a commitment to reveal those teachings in a future life. Then in his next life that young girl reincarnated as a male treasure revealer, but who lived an obscure life, Pema Ledreltsal. After that, she became Longchenpa (1308- 1363) a male scholar and yogin, the greatest forefather of Dzogchen. His history is a fascinating glimpse into how Tibetan Buddhists understand identity, as layered with multiple pasts and futures in cycles of reincarnation. In these legends, names, gender, time, place and context change, but the transmission is thought to be a continuous thread from the past to a new present.

In Longchenpa’s life in the fourteenth century, he is known for his great works synthesizing and systematizing the Dzogchen teachings. I think of his work, the Treasury of Philosophical systems, which painstakingly lays out the relationship between Dzogchen and previous Buddhist philosophical vehicles as well its relationship to Sarma assertions. Here we can see a dialectic between different views and methods which turn earlier Buddhist philosophies on their head. For example he says,

“In lower spiritual approaches, having established confidence in a view based on mental analysis and concepts, one thinks of enlightenment in terms of some linear time frame, with ideas such as, ‘I will attain freedom in an eon, or several lifetimes, or in this lifetime or in the state after death.’ Thus, because these approaches do not enable one to perceive naturally occurring timeless awareness in the present moment, they are not entirely correct…”(1) 

It is such a radical assertion to take the path as finding something that is present now rather than developed later. I find these passages refreshing because it undermines neurotic ideals of enlightenment and points to something very basic, present (and even somatic) as the goal of the path. How do we resolve these different approaches in Buddhism? The answer matters because it gets to the heart of how we conceive of diversity. In Dzogchen, diversity is part of yeshes, the luminous primordial intelligence, not counter to it. At the most crude level, and in keeping with dualistic tendencies, we could make one right and another wrong. But there are so many other frameworks available. The strategy we see in this passage is the idea of partial, or provisional truths, which are completely true and revelational from the standpoint of not knowing them, even though there is more to be known beyond that. Another one of the most common, was of reasoning through these diversities in Buddhist philosophy based on efficacy, (thabs shes) uniting the wisdom and skillful means that is actually appropriate according to the person. Another more poetic explanation comes from Longchenpa; he describes the unity of all the Buddhist methods based on sharing the same result, which is authentic freedom. (2) And there are so many other ways to understand how Buddhist philosophy has maintained these diverse approaches. Thanks in large part to Longchenpa, we can understand how they all relate to Dzogchen.

Longchenpa is most well known for his seven treasuries, the texts I teach in our weekly Wednesday night classes but his works are extensive, totaling some 250 or more works. We also study Longchenpa’s work in our annual Dzogchen retreat, which this year will happen in September on-line, due to the pandemic. There is so much to explore in Longchenpa’s works. As a result of his massive contribution, many praises are said of Longchenpa. In Marvellous Garland, he is called, the headwater of the river of teachings, the source of a hundred thousand springs, timely rain of spiritual energy and power that nurtures the field of many beings, great refuge, yogin of the sublime spiritual approach.

Dzogchen is profound in so many ways, most notably for the philosophy, the special meditation practices and the emphasis on luminous wakefulness as the fabric of person and everything. However, another thing that continuously fascinates me about Dzogchen is its teachings in context of its history. It is such an important part of what we are doing with the Buddhist Studies Institute. By looking at things in context we work against that colonialist tendency to erase indigenous contexts and traditions. And also by including the history with the study of philosophy and practice, we find resources to see from multiple perspectives and gain from the debates and struggles of those who came before us. By engaging instruction from Tibetan and Western-European scholars alike, we see Buddhism in conversations with the discourses of our time. This approach opens up a way of working Buddhism that zooms out to a wider perspective, to see more, to open up new questions with an explorer mindset. Of course, within this endeavor, one of the most compelling and precious resources is philosophical works of Longchenpa, great foreather of Dzogchen, the single most important writer of Dzogchen teachings.

This is why, next week, in lieu of our annual in-person Dzogchen retreat in August (which is now happening online in September) and in celebration of the anniversary of our school, we will be holding an online series exploring Dzogchen through the life and teachings of Longchenpa. This wonderful event will consist of evening programs led by experts in Longchenpa’s tradition and then a Saturday one day mini-retreat where I will teach on Longchenpa’s heart advice to Yogis.

I am overjoyed to be hosting our esteemed guest teachers for next week’s program. Lama Rigzin Drolma, Anne Klein, is an extraordinary scholar, practitioner and Lama. She is someone I greatly admire and I am overjoyed that you will get to meet her in this context. Jampa MacKenzie Stewart recently published a book on Longchenpa’s life. We also have Khenpo Gawang Rinpoche teaching for this event, translator of Longchenpa’s guide to meditation that we study in the monthly open teaching. And of course I will be overjoyed to teach as well, so happy to talk with you square within my speciality as a researcher and practitioner. I look forward to sharing this wonderful event with you.

I will leave you with a poem of Patrul Rinpoche about the benefits of studying Longchenpa’s teachings.

My very best to you,

Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887) said:

“When you feel confused or ignorant or in doubt, consult these noble works,
and the sword of sublime knowing found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will cut through the web of confusion.

When the fog of excessive conceptualization enshrouds you, consult these noble works, and the vajra of timeless awareness found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will knock down the walls of concepts based on confusion.

When the pain of emotionality based on confusion afflicts you, consult these noble works, and the bonfire of realization found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will instantly consume the fuel of negative emotions.

When you are distracted by circumstances and filled with regret, consult these noble works, and the sublime healing nectar found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will soothe and restore your mind with certain emergence.

When you are dwelling in a solitary place, consult these noble works, and the comforting ally of awareness found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will allow you to pass your time, day and night, in spiritual practice.

When you feel attachment and aversion in the midst of too many people, consult these noble works, and the jeweled staircase found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will bring you ease of mind within the uniform expanse of being.

When you are obsessed with the concepts of intellectual speculation, consult these noble works, and the key of skillful means found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will release you from the chains of belief in the seeming truth of things.

When your meditation is hindered by laxity, agitation, or dullness, consult these noble works, and the pith instructions on key points found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will arouse an excellent, flawless state of peaceful meditative absorption within you.

When you are threatened by illness or suffering, consult these noble works, and the philosopher’s stone (which turns base metal into gold) found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will transform negative circumstances into supportive ones.

When your realization -the dynamic energy of awareness- intensifies, consult these noble works, and the enriching key points found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will directly introduce you to equalness within the expanse of dharmakaya.

When you feel uncontrollably concerned with sense pleasures and personal wealth, consult these noble works, and the peacock (which delights in poison) found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will allow you to enjoy whatever you desire as an adornment, in a state without fixation.

When you feel self-important, caught on the dualistic horns of hope and fear, consult these noble works, and the means of cutting through the maras found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will grant you the confidence to enjoy uncontrived conduct.

When, in an entrenched state of confusion, you reify things, consult these noble works,  and the magician’s advice found in the Omniscient One’s excellent explanatory teachings will eliminate the turmoil of taking things to be so solid and real.” (3)

Footnotes:

(1) Rabjam, Longchen, grub mtha’ rin po che’i mdzod. Adzom Edition. ff181b.

(2) Rabjam, ff199b.

 (3) Khenpo, Nyoshul.  Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems; Biographies of the Masters of Awareness of the Dzogchen Lineage. Padma Publishing, 2005. 152-155. Adapted from this text, I adjusted the translation of a couple terms.

DZOGCHEN SERIES

DZOGCHEN SERIES Longchenpa & His Life Teachings

with Anne C. Klein, Lama Rigzin Drolma

Jampa Mackenzie Stewart

Khenpo Gawang Rinpoche

Pema Khandro

Aug 16th – 19th, 6-7:30pm PT – Guest Presenters

Sat Aug 21st, 10am-6pm PT – Longchenpa’s Advice to Yogis

w/ Pema Khandro

One of the most celebrated scholars of Tibetan Buddhism was Longchenpa, a fourteenth century philosopher-yogi who wrote about Dzogchen.

Dzogchen is the esoteric tradition of Tibetan contemplation, regarded as the highest and most precious body of knowledge held by the Nyingma tradition. It emphasizes teachings on intrinsic buddha-nature as the true nature of every person and the ground of reality. It also emphasizes a contemplative relationship with the elements and environment.

Longchenpa’s work on Dzogchen defined the tradition as it is practiced today. Longchenpa’s extensive collected works synthesized the Dzogchen teachings and their relationship to the exoteric Buddhist philosophical movements.

This series features even lectures, scholars and teachers of Tibetan Buddhism specializing in the works of Longchenpa and Dzogchen. These classes will focus on the life and teachings of Longchenpa, followed by a day-long meditation course, all online. Join us in celebrating the history of Dzogchen and reflecting on its developments, views and contributions in the life and works of Longchenpa.

*This series has a limited enrollment of 100 participants.

Register Here