With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath
Open Dates
Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan
Open Dates
Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!
With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro
Open Dates
This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
May 28 - June 1 San Diego and Online In a world beset with fear, profound methods are needed to reclaim intrinsic wisdom and awaken innate courage. Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies institute for a contemplation of fierce compassion through the annual Chod retreat, Troma Nagmo teachings, and an optional five month Comprehensive Chod intensive training to follow. Chod is the profound method of psychological transformation in esoteric Buddhism. Chod means cutting, referring to cutting through the fictions that cause fear, anxiety, and hesitations in one’s life.
Embark on a transformative five-month journey into the heart of Dzogchen Chod with Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D. and the Buddhist Studies Institute. This comprehensive Chod training offers a rare opportunity for an in-depth immersion in the Dzogchen Chod system, Healing Chod, and the Secret Black Dakini Teachings. Take your Chod practice to the next level and cultivate fierce compassion and psychological transformation while studying the Tibetan tradition.
Join us for the 5th installation of the Choying Dzod with Dr. Pema Khandro and Khenpo Yeshi
March 21 – 23 9am-12pm pacific time
Beyond striving and accomplishment lies a state of effortless presence—the fundamental space of pure being. Unlocking access to this innate openness is the central theme of The Treasury of Basic SpaceChoying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod).
It conveys the heart of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen), through poetic verse. Revered as an expression of ultimate reality itself, this seminal Dzogchen text by the 14th-century master Longchenpa illuminates the vast expanse of existence and the pure, profound experience of meaning as the unveiling of the fundamental nature of being.
The Treasury of Basic Space serves as both a guide to meditation and liberation and a sacred text recited for those nearing death, helping them recognize the nature of mind in their final moments. When read during the dying process, it provides essential support at a pivotal time, offering clarity and guidance for the transition. Many great Dzogchen masters have had this profound text read to them at the time of their passing.
Join the Buddhist Studies Institute for this unique online program led by Khenpo Yeshi, a Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher, alongside Dr. Pema Khandro, a Dzogchen scholar, lama, and lineage holder in the Nyingma tradition. Over the course of three days, participants will receive the lung—the oral transmission of this profound text—by Khenpo Yeshi, along with in-depth study and guided practice led by both instructors.
with Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Pema Khandro
April 25 – 27
9am – 12pm pacific time
Chakrasamvara Empowerment is an initiation into the inner tantra practice of generation stage meditation, led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Lama Pema Khandro. This exceptional program features instructions, empowerment, and meditations of Chakrasamvara. It will be led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche who will give the empowerment and Lama Pema Khandro who will give the instructions for practice. We are honored to host the most excellent interpreter, Ina Bieler! The empowerment will be translated into lucid and easy to understand English.
We believe in the transformative power of a compassionate education. With your support, we can continue creating a space where ancient wisdom meets modern insight, empowering people from all walks of life to grow, learn, and lead with integrity.