Buddhist Studies Institute

Buddhist Fasting Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro

January 26 – January 28, 2024
9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute for a weekend of fasting, purification, and re-envisioning ones life.

A profound cleansing of body and mind, the Buddhist Fasting practice, “Nyungne” is a practice of disintegrating previous ways of being to re-emerge within the ground of one’s own intrinsic liberation. The fasting practice includes vows, mantras, Avalokiteshvara meditation, and silent practice to purify karma and heal body and mind.

This Buddhist fasting tradition comes from a Tibetan nun, Gelongma Palmo, from the eleventh century, who used fasting for liberation in the face of extreme illness. The online retreat will follow the journey of Palmo and by engaging in the meditation of the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. The weekend will include instructions on Buddhist Fasting practice, along with supportive instructions for nutrition and detoxification according to Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda to support those both new to fasting and those whose bodies are familiar with it.

Worried about fasting? Fasting can be done in ways that are helpful or harmful to the body. Let our experts in Tibetan Medicine, Chinese Medicine, and Ayurveda guide you in fasting safely for your body.

FREE 40-Day Meditation Marathon

This is an invitation to practice with us every single day until Losar (Tibetan New Year) on February 10th. It’s so wonderful to be able to share this commitment with others and we invite you to join us every day for our free Daily Meditation sessions. Each 30-minute session is led by a Certified Meditation Instructor from the Buddhist Studies Institute. Whether you practice on your own time or join us live, we will celebrate all those who complete the 40-day marathon at our Losar Event on February 12.

Ngondro Training
Heart of the Vast Expanse with Pema Khandro

Module 1 begins January 29, 2024

Mondays Online

5pm – 6:30pm PT San Francisco

8pm – 9:30pm ET New York

12pm- 1:30pm AEDT Sydney

Ngondro presents the core practices of Buddhist psychology, working with core needs in identity, relationality, forgiveness and repair, resources and the sense of empowerment. Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute for a journey into Ngongro, the core practice of Buddhist tantra.

Ngondro meditation is the foundation of a solid experience of spiritual growth. Ngondro refers to a series of meditation practices for purifying, training and empowering the mind & body. 

“There are different approaches to Ngondro, for some schools of Tibetan Buddhism it is reserved for much later. But for the Nyingma tradition we open the door to Ngondro meditations sooner, because for us it is the core or nucleus of spiritual training.”  – Pema Khandro on Ngondro

Losar ~ Tibetan New Year Celebration
with Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute
Online – February 12th, 2024

5pm – 7pm PT San Francisco

8pm – 10pm ET New York

12pm- 2pm AEDT Sydney

Tibetan New Year Celebration

All are welcome to join Pema Khandro for our annual Tibetan Lunar New Year Celebration This is a free online program and open to the public.

• Vajrakilaya Dances Performed

• Losar Address with Pema Khandro

• Celebration of 40-Day Meditation Marathoners

• Dedications of Merit

• Year of the Wood Dragon Begins!

Donate below any amount to celebrate The Buddhist Studies Institute’s mission to help the Buddhist Teachings flourish.

Meditation Instructor Training 2024

February 19 – August 5

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.

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

3 Modules

Traditional Meditation

Teaching Practicum

Teaching Ethics

This training is a pre-requisite for the Chaplaincy Certificate offered summer of 2024.

The Freedom of Being: The Choying Dzod Retreat

Online with Khenpo Yeshi & Pema Khandro

February 23 – February 25

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

Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself,  is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.  It refers to the expanse of reality and pure experience of meaningfulness as the revelation of the ground of being.

The Treasury of Basic Space is a manual for meditation and liberation, as well as being a text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death. Read during dying, it offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.

The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of breakthrough meditation (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of sublime knowing.

Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.

One Nun’s Hardship & Beauty
The Story of Gelongma Palmo

by Pema Khandro

Our upcoming Buddhist Fasting Retreat in January will feature practices based on the founder of this fasting tradition, Gelongma Palmo. Read what Dr. Pema Khandro shares about her fascinating story.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email info@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

JANUARY

Buddhist Fasting Retreat – January 26 – January 28

Ngondro Training – January 29 – October 28

FEBRUARY

Losar Celebration – February 12

Meditation Instructor Training – February 19 – August 9
Choying Dzod: The Freedom of Being – February 23- 25

APRIL

Touching Earth: Buddhism and the Environment – April 5- April 7

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 31 – June 2

*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone