EARLY FALL CLASSES

8 weeks: Monday, August 18th – Saturday, October 11th, 2025

 BUDDHIST STUDIES 

The Words of My Perfect Teacher, Part One

Tuesdays (August 19th – October 7th, 2025), 7:00pm – 8:30pm PST 

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

 Patrul Rinpoche’s The Words of My Perfect Teacher is a revered text in the Tibet tradition that provides a practical guide to the transformation of consciousness and an introduction to Nyingma practices. Written in plain language, Patrul Rinpoche speaks to both the beginner and to those with more advanced training, in presenting preliminary practices needed to advance along the path to enlightenment. The Early Fall term will cover Part One of Patrul Rinpoche’s text concerning the Outer Preliminaries that present the fundamentals of Buddhism in general. The Late Fall term will cover Part Two, developing the Inner Preliminaries that clear the way to full awakening.  This two-term class is appropriate for anyone wanting to engage the Buddhist path in a heart-felt way, particularly those who are interested in the practices of the Longchen Nyingtik, a spiritual treasure cycle of the Nyingma tradition. One three-hour Saturday workshop is included. Participants will need to acquire a copy of The Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. 

Instructors: Mark Henderson and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $160. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18813

The Words of My Perfect Teacher: Daily Practice Program

Mondays through Fridays (August 20th – October 10th, 2025), 6:45am – 7:30am PST 

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

This class is open to those who enroll in The Words of My Perfect Teacher (the Tuesday evening course on Patrul Rinpoche’s The Words of My Perfect Teacher). This rigorous meditation practice class will meet five (5) mornings a week (except the first week which will begin on Wednesday, August 20.) We will experientially engage a sequence of meditation practices presented by Patrul Rinpoche, Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, and selected contemplations and meditation practices composed by Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche. Participants will need to acquire a copy of The Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group.

Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost $160. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18814

MEDITATION

Beginning Meditation: Foundations of Well-Being Part 1

Wednesdays (August 20th – September 10th, 2025), 6:00pm-7:30pm PST

Online & In Person at the Nyingma Institute

“We can begin by accepting each moment and enjoying it, but most of us do not know how.” (Gesture of Balance, p. 7). Meditation can help us shift our way of relating to ourselves and our experience. We can learn to accept what happens, no matter what arises, and cultivate well-being in our lives.. But, first we must learn how to do this! In this beginning meditation class, we will work with relaxation, mindfulness, and movement practices that soften the grip of conceptual mind and help us touch into the natural resources of our own embodiment. This class is geared towards true beginners, but is open to meditators of all levels. This class will be the first of a two-part series.

Instructor: Emily Provosty. Cost: $80. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18815

Intermediate Meditation

Thursdays (August 21st -October 9th, 2025) 6:00pm-7:30pm PST

Online & In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

In a world filled with constant demands and distractions, meditation offers a profound pathway to inner tranquility. With practice, we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced, and within this calmness lies an innate inner knowledge that can ultimately render our lives satisfying and deeply meaningful. To guide our practice, we will explore insightful portions from Rinpoche Tarthang Tulku’s profound works, “Openness Mind” and “Practices on the Buddhist Path,” drawing upon their timeless practices and exercises to deepen our understanding of meditation.

Instructor: Bob Byrne. Cost: $160. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18816

Awakening Through the Thirty-Seven Wings of a Bodhisattva

Thursdays (August 21st -October 9th, 2025 ) 10:00am-11:30am PST

Online Only

This course is an immersive 8-week advanced meditation course centered on cultivating embodied compassion as the path to enlightenment. To transform the heart and mind, we will engage one of Tibet’s most cherished teachings on mind training: The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva by 14th-century master Gyalse Ngulchu Tokmé Zangpo. This concise yet profound text resonates with themes from the sublime Bodhicaryavatara, offering practical guidance on how to fully embody and actualize the bodhisattva path.

The curriculum includes guided and silent meditation sessions on the six pāramitās (perfections), contemplative methods to cultivate bodhicitta, and teachings drawn from classic commentaries by Chökyi Drakpa, Lama Mipham, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Participants will also reflect on integrating the bodhisattva path into daily life, grounding compassion in wisdom and real-world action.

Designed for experienced meditators with a foundation in Buddhist practice and philosophy, this course offers structure, support, and inspiration for those ready to deepen their path toward full awakening for the benefit of all beings. 

Instructors: Lama Palzang & Pema Gellek. Cost: $160. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18817

KUM NYE

The Inner and Outer Massage of Feeling

Wednesdays (August 20th-October 8th, 2025) 8-9 am PST

Online Only

In this 8-week series, we will focus on the very first chapter of the Kum Nye Relaxation (Tibetan Yoga) text, ‘The Inner and Outer Massage of Feeling.’ This chapter is a rich source of theory and wisdom that provides the underpinning of Kum Nye practice. We will draw directly from the text – pages 3-18 – and use practices from Part One of the text to more fully explore and embody the meaning. 

Appropriate for all levels of experience.

Instructor: Donna Morton. Cost: $120. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18818

Advanced Kum Nye: Opening the Gates to Meditation

Tuesdays (September 9th – October 14th, 2025) 6:00pm-7:30pm PST

Online Only

“Rejecting nothing, accepting nothing, setting up nothing – these are the guidelines for relaxation that opens wide the gateways to meditation” Joy of Being by Tarthang Tulku

It is said that the practice of Kum Nye naturally leads into meditation. In this class we explore the pathways set out in Kum Nye book Joy of Being that lead directly into meditation. Maybe, meditation that comes about without needing any more instructions. 

Instructor: Santosh Philip. Cost: $120. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18823

NYINGMA PRACTICE

Medicine Buddha Practice Group 

Mondays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm (Sept 8 – Sept 29) 

Online & In-Person at Nyingma Institute

This month-long series evokes the healing energy of the Medicine Buddha through visualization practice, mantra, and silent sitting. The practice sessions will be focused and accessible, emphasizing direct experience and contemplative depth. 

Participants are encouraged to attend the Medicine Buddha public event on Saturday, October 4, led by the deans of the Nyingma Institute. This series is designed to deepen your familiarity with the practice and strengthen continuity leading up to that special gathering.

Instructor:  Pauline Yu. Cost: $80 or by donation. Registration: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18961

Essence of the Lotus Trilogy: Wisdom of Padmasambhava Term Five: Lotus Language and the Meaning of our Journey – 1 

Fridays (August 22–October 10), 10:00am–11:30am PST

Online and In-Person at the Nyingma Institute

 “So much of what it means to be human is related to our use of language,” Tarthang Tulku writes in Lotus Language, the second book of his Lotus Trilogy. This term we continue our study and exploration of Lotus Language by focusing on the way language rules and focuses the meaning we give to our lives. Paying attention to the way language shapes experience, we learn that we need not be so committed to our adopted identities. We come to appreciate a greater potentiality in our being. Using practices that invoke Padmasambhava, we open sensitivity to the depth of meaning present in the Lotus Trilogy, and through meditations inspired by our reading and discussion, we begin to see how body, speech, and mind are avenues for awakening. 

New students are welcome to join this ongoing three-year program of the Lotus Trilogy with the consent of an instructor. Each term offers an intensive weekend of study and practice, followed by a longer retreat at the end of the second year. See program description on the Institute’s web page.

Instructors: Lama Palzang, Pema Gellek, Abbe Blum, and Hugh Joswick.  Scholarships are available.

Learn more and register: https://nyingmainstitute.com/trilogy/

TIBETAN LANGUAGE

Intermediate Tibetan Level XIII 

Thursdays, 6:15 -7:45 pm, PT (August 21st-October 9th, 2025)

Online Only

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

Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $140. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Register Here: https://nyingmainstitute.com/?p=18819