April 25, 2020

Hi everyone, 

After 8 years of service our reliable donated car, a grey 2005 Volvo S40, has started having transmission problems and is no longer safe to drive. Unfortunately, the value of the car is less than that of the replacement part needed, so it is time to bid farewell to this trusty steed. 

We rely on this vehicle for all procurement and transportation needs, for everything from picking up weekly groceries and supplies, to retrieving medication for those in our community without transportation, to picking up retreatants and stranded volunteers in emergencies.

As a residential community, one person handles procurement for the entire group. This includes the organization of, ordering, and pickup of items as necessary. We’d like to thank this person (Caz!) for her ongoing support, and also to replace this very necessary tool — a vehicle — as soon as we can. (As context, our culture is one of full-time volunteers who live and work on site as staff. We like to think that living and working together is both a good way to practice and to have a lighter impact on the environment.) 

At the moment, we are sheltering in place and relying heavily on deliveries, however we still need a working vehicle to rely on for emergencies.

We are seeking recommendations for a safe, lightly-used car to purchase, one without major repairs needed, for transporting supplies and people. If you have a friend or trustworthy acquaintance who is selling a car of this description, please put us in touch. 

Thank you for your help and support!

In gratitude, 

NI Residential Staff 

—

May 29, 2020 

Update:  We have been gifted a well-maintained, lightly-used car! Thank you so much to our dear friend for the donation. 

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Practicing Together with NyingmaNet

April 8, 2020

Dear Friends of Nyingma,

In these uncertain times, it seems especially important to practice together, find new ways to keep in touch with each other near and far, and deepen our understanding.

The undersigned, all long-time students of Tarthang Tulku, invite you to join NyingmaNet, a free new program to be offered online starting Friday, April 17.

NyingmaNet meetings will take place online every Friday from 8:00-8:45 AM California (PST) time on Zoom. Teachers and members throughout the international Nyingma community will contribute to NyingmaNet. There will always be some form of meditation or Kum Nye or other practice to support our inner balance. There will also be interviews, project updates and special practices drawn from other aspects of Rinpoche’s teachings.

To join NyingmaNet please send an email to . We will do our best to send you program information ahead of time. New friends are welcome, so feel free to invite others who may be interested.

The first session of NyingmaNet will take place on Friday, April 17, from 8:00-8:45 am, California time (12:00-12:45 in Brazil and Argentina and 5:00-5:45 pm in Europe. There will be 6 sessions through Friday, May 29. In mid-May we will decide if we continue the series.

At the first meeting of NyingmaNet, in addition to a practice for calm and stability, we will have some updates on how the community is responding to the pandemic and Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek from the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley will lead us through some powerful mantras and prayers.

As this is an experiment for all of us, we hope you will share your feedback, suggestions for program items, and tips by sending them to .

We look forward to meeting with you Fridays, starting April 17.

Elske van de Hulst
Abbe Blum
Jack Petranker

Garden of the Sacred: The Padmakara Meditation Garden

By C.M. Kushins — journalist and author

March 1, 2020

“Without any commentary or explanation, we can walk through a garden and feel the fullness of the experience … Sustained, nourished, and supported by beauty, the heart begins to open, like the petals of a flower unfolding.  The flower of the heart is the center of the mandala.  When the heart opens, we begin to realize the unity of existence and our communion with nature.”

—Rinpoche Tarthang Tulku

Nowhere are the words of Rinpoche Tarthang best echoed than within one of the Nyingma Institute’s most important and ambitious projects, the Padmakara Meditation Garden. 

Since 1973, the meditation garden has been a beautiful, intimate place for students, retreatants, and visitors to practice and reflect in a space of tranquility and refuge. Now, almost 45 years later, the garden is in need of renovation in order to continue serving our community, friends, and visitors.

Thanks to the efforts of a world-class landscape designer, the mindful labor of the Nyingma Institute’s dedicated volunteers and staff, and the generosity of our donors, the garden’s progress is now on an incredible track into restoring the beauty and luster it has long represented within Tarthang Rinpoche’s vision for a sacred space for Nyingma residents and visitors alike.

“This is definitely the largest-scale project that I’ve worked on for the Institute,” says Yuji, a volunteer and resident who has been a core crew member of the Nyingma Institute’s many sacred art and sacred space projects.  “I’ve worked on maybe a dozen projects here, but this is the biggest in scope and one of the largest for the whole Bay Area community.”

The garden itself has long been considered the crown jewel of the Nyingma Institute, and its initial construction dates to the spiritual facility’s 1973 founding.  Envisioned as an intimate place for students—both devout Buddhists and secular alike—retreatants, and visitors alike to practice and reflect in an area of tranquility and refuge, the intricate design of the garden not only contains material embodiments of all eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism, but was uniquely framed to exemplify the Tibetan concept of “the value of sacred space.”

Demolition began in the fall of 2018, with the needed machinery and crew line-up ready to begin the true groundbreaking by May of the following year.  Working alongside officials from the Bay Area—along with inclement weather and the always-needed fundraising for such spiritual endeavors—all added to the ongoing process to get to the garden’s current progress.  Just last month, the concrete was finally poured for what will shape the garden’s gorgeous overall layout, framing the interiors of the intricate design features with a large pond—which, in and of itself—proved mandatory to the beautiful water addition: the reservoir’s concrete also acts as a form of foundation for the garden’s many beautiful elements, including a hillside path for walking meditation, waterfalls, bamboo groves, and a stone courtyard with a lotus medallion design in the center.

“I think that the scale of the project is what drew us in as volunteers,” said Kris, another resident and team member. “We’ve been part of the bigger projects that are part of the community’s mandala, and this seemed like a great crew to work with as one of the largest community efforts in the Institute’s history.” He and Katie have both been involved in numerous large-scale projects at Odiyan Retreat Center, where they gained construction experience and honed their skills.

Of the Padmakara Garden’s successful progress, Katie added, “It’s always funny when you work on an ongoing project like this … There are so many intricate elements that have to go in place, that you don’t always realize how much progress you’re actually making!  Since the weather has warmed up over the last few weeks, we’ve made so much headway, the real beauty of the garden is started to take shape.” 

All are invited to be part of the creation of Padmakara Garden — a precious jewel of a cultural heritage garden, with Tibetan sacred art and architecture set in a lush Himalayan themed garden, balanced by modern architectural accents. As the final element of the Tibetan sacred symbolism, the completed garden will act as the crown “jewel” of the Institute, serving as a living representation of Tibetan cultural heritage for visitors and residents of the Bay Area to enjoy and find inner peace. 

Learn More: nyingmainstitute.com/garden

December 2019

Dear Friends,

As a new year approaches, it’s worth contemplating what you would like to cultivate and invite into your life. Here at the Nyingma Institute, we take to heart our responsibility to hold open a space for inquiry, discovery, and transformation, so that we can empower individuals with life-long tools for accessing their own inner wisdom. We see ourselves as part of a greater movement supporting meaningful living, universal wisdom, and visionary goodness in a time when the planet’s very survival depends on such values.

Many of the fields of study we offer are powerful and unique in that they essentially address how to balance and transform mind without relying on Buddhist terminology, dogma, or ritual. In addition to supporting well-being and balance, we also hold open a doorway to an authentic and ancient lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the Nyingma tradition for those seeking the richness, depth, and beauty of a traditional Dharma path. All these transformative teachings reach us through our founder, Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, to whom we are tremendously grateful.

Awakened beings have described our experience of suffering to be like a bubble or weather pattern that forms when we operate from a view of the absolute centrality of the self. How can we investigate the dark unknowing that swirls in the center? We are very fortunate, here at the Institute, to be able to draw upon an array of incisive, accessible methods that allow us to question, touch, and release the deepest knots of mind, taking us right into the mystery of our being. As practitioners we come to understand that we must continually seek out the edge of the known, where there is an incredible play of light that moves between confusion and knowing. It’s deeply rewarding to see how individuals encounter these teachings and engage their own direct experience, shining light on fractured areas and discovering that these are the very places where wholeness and freedom can manifest.

We warmly invite you to join us at the Nyingma Institute for a class, workshop, or retreat this year, so that you may delve into your own being through Tibetan Yoga, Buddhist studies, contemplation, and meditation.

Pema Gellek and Lama Palzang
Deans, Nyingma Institute

P.S. How you can help:
• Have an old but reliable van or car you’d like to donate? We are seeking a vehicle.
• Full-time and part-time volunteer positions are open. Experience in bookkeeping, IT, promotions, or construction is particularly helpful.
• We have a major renovation and construction project to create a sacred contemplative garden that will continue through 2020. Donations are tax-deductible, as we are a volunteer-run, 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Thank you so much for your support!