EARLY SPRING CLASSES

8 weeks: Monday, February 9th – Saturday, April 4th, 2026

BUDDHIST STUDIES 

Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind

Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM, PT (February 10  – March 31, 2026)

Online and In Person at the Nyingma Institute 

Longchenpa’s Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind is a key text in the Nyingma tradition that provides a practical guide to the gradual path culminating in liberation and omniscience. Composed by the greatest lama in the Nyingma tradition, Longchenpa’s mastery shines through every word of this precious text. The Early Spring term will cover Chapters 1 – 7 concerning the four contemplations that turn the mind away from worldly concerns, the spiritual teacher, refuge, and the four immeasurable qualities. The Late Spring term will cover Chapters 8 – 13 concerning the generation of enlightened mind, the two stages of Vajrayana practice, the view of the Great Perfection, meditative concentration, the three facets of meditation, and the result.

This two-term class is appropriate for anyone wanting to engage the Buddhist path in a heart-felt way. Participants will need to acquire a copy of Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind, The Trilogy of Rest, Volume One translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, which we will use in class. An earlier translation by Herbert Guenther, Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part One: Mind, was printed by Dharma Publishing in 1975 and is useful for comparison.

Instructors: Mark Henderson and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $160. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20740

Finding Rest: Daily Practice Program

Mondays – Fridays, 6:45 – 7:30 AM Pacific Time (February 9 – April 3, 2026)

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

This class is open to those who enroll in Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind, the Tuesday evening course on Longchenpa’s root text. This rigorous meditation practice class will meet five (5) mornings a week. We will experientially engage the sequence of meditation practices presented by Longchenpa in The Excellent Path to Enlightenment his guidance manual to the root text. In addition we will engage in meditation practices composed by Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche for the cultivation of calm abiding and deep insight. Participants will need to acquire Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind, The Trilogy of Rest, Volume 1, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group.

Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost $160. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20743

MEDITATION 

Beginning Meditation: Relaxing into Being

Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:00 PM, PT(February 11 – March 18, 2026)

Online & In Person at the Nyingma Institute

“Meditation shows that we do not need to grasp at some experiences and reject others. We can accept all our experience, whether positive or negative” (Hidden Mind of Freedom)

Our inner and outer worlds may feel chaotic and restless at times, but there is a deep stillness that is available to us if we know how to fully relax and let go of grasping at thoughts and experience. With regular meditation practice, we can expand that stillness into all parts of our lives. In this 6-week course, we will learn how to utilize the resources of our embodiment to relax the habitual “doing” of mind and shift into “being”.  We will use Tarthang Tulku’s books Hidden Mind of Freedom and Openness Mind as supports for our practice. 

Instructor: Emily Provosty. Cost: $90. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20747

Intermediate Meditation: The Six Perfections

Fridays, 6:00 – 7:30 PM, PT (February 13 – April 3, 2026)

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

The Six Perfections (Pāramitās) are core Mahāyāna Buddhist practices that guide bodhisattvas—those who aspire to enlightenment for the benefit of all beings—on the path to full Buddhahood. They include Generosity (Dāna), Ethical Discipline (Śīla), Patience (Kṣānti), Joyful Effort (Vīrya), Concentration (Dhyāna), and Wisdom (Prajñā). These six practices together form a complete and integrated path to liberation. They are not merely supportive qualities for enlightenment, but indispensable conditions for its realization.

In this eight-session series, participants will learn, discuss, and meditate on the Six Perfections step by step, exploring how these teachings can be cultivated both in formal practice and in everyday life. The course emphasizes practical application as well as reflective understanding.

Structure of the Program

Each session will include:

• Teaching on one or more of the Six Perfections
• Group discussion and reflection
• Guided meditation related to the topic

The program is open to beginners as well as those with prior experience in Buddhism, and welcomes anyone interested in deepening wisdom, compassion, and ethical living.

Instructor: Khenpo Kalsang. Cost: $160. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20751

 KUM NYE TIBETAN YOGA 

Advanced Kum Nye: Getting the Juice of Experience

Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, PT (February 10  – March 31 , 2026)

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

“Each of the senses has its own field of awareness, an openness that illuminates and gathers data in fullness and in depth. ….  It allows our senses to savor the juice of experience, the sweet sense of aliveness that makes experience meaningful. But our senses are not operating at full capacity. ” (Joy of Being, p. 173).

How do you take in the full juice of experience. Using terms from Indian aesthetics particularly from the arts of drama and music – how do we take in the ‘rasa’ of the experience. We have to activate our senses to allow them to open fully enough to benefit from the light of awareness. In this class we will go deeper into the practices with the senses that were developed in the previous Quarter.

Instructor: Santosh Philip. Cost: $160 . Prerequisite: two years of Kum Nye practice. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20754

Kum Nye Breathing

Wednesdays, 8:00 – 9:00 AM, PT (February 11 – April 1, 2026)

Online Only

“Once we know how to contact the energy of breath, breathing becomes an infinite source of vitalizing energies” (Breathing, Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga)

In this 8-week term, we will look closely at the text in the Breathing chapter, and explore the range of breath exercises presented. We will weave these into practice along with movement and self-massage, to discover the balancing, nourishing, and vitalizing quality of breath.

Instructor: Donna Morton. Cost: $120. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20758

The Joy of Being Term Three: Relax and Heal–Tuning and Nourishing the Senses

Mondays, 6:00 – 7:30 PM, PT; Wednesdays, 10:30 AM – Noon, PT (February 9 – April 1 , 2026)

Online & In Person at the Nyingma Institute

Kum Nye is a way to relax and heal the gates of the senses, so that they also open inward, transmitting the full richness of experience and bringing more ease and joy into our lives. Kum Nye enables us to relax deeply and to be fully within the flow of sensory experience. (The Joy of Being, p. 73) 

 This term presents The Joy of Being‘s approach to nourishing the senses and softening their focus on externals.  Experiencing greater clarity and depth in our lives eases restlessness and satisfies our hunger for meaning.

This is the third of seven modules of the Nyingma Institute International Joy of Being Teacher Training program that also includes 9 weekend workshops and runs through February 2027.

These weekly classes can be taken separately, just for the love of it, with permission of the instructors.

Two sections: 

Mondays: 6-7:30 PM Pacific Standard time.  Hybrid: in-person with Nyingma Institute in Berkeley and online.

Abbe Blum and Santosh Phillip

Wednesdays: 10:30 -Noon, 6: 30 PM U.K./ GMT  U.K. Based faculty. Online only.

Jonathan Clewley. In addition, another section is offered in Dutch.

For information about the teacher training program, go to https://nyingmainstitute.com/kntt/kntt-2026-2/

Instructor: Abbe Blum & Santosh Philip. Cost: $160. Some Kum Nye experience recommended or with consent of the instructor. Registration for weekly class only (not teacher training): https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20762

NYINGMA PRACTICE

Essence of the Lotus Trilogy: Wisdom of Padmasambhava

An Introduction to Mind 

Fridays, 10:00 to 11:30AM, PT (February 13—April 3, 2026)

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

In the Lotus Trilogy program, we explore body, language, and mind as vehicles for liberation. Lotus Mind, the final book in the series asks us: Have you ever truly been introduced to mind, or “a silence nobody owns, and to a freedom emerging from within every event and experience?” (p. xlviii). We investigate what we know of mind through dialogue and experiential practices and uncover the dynamics of mental processes involved in what we ordinarily accept as reality. Understanding how mind operates can open our knowing to a new way of being. Each term of the LTP program features advice from the Lotus Born, Padmasambhava, who teaches that spiritual knowledge must be personalized and not remain as mere theory. 

Experience with previous Lotus classes is recommended but not required. This final step of the Lotus program welcomes those with a serious interest in mind, an intention to deepen their meditation practice, and the aspiration to develop Bodhicitta. One weekend workshop retreat, April 24 – 26, is included.

Instructors: Lama Palzang, Pema Gellek, Abbe Blum, & Hugh Joswick. Cost: $275. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20765

TIBETAN LANGUAGE 

Intermediate Tibetan Level XIV

Thursdays, 6:15 -7:45 pm, PT (February 12  – April 2, 2026)

Online Only

Continued reading and translation of traditional texts and prayers in the classical Tibetan language.

Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $160. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=20768