Winter Term (4 Weeks) 

January 11, 2021 — February 6, 2021

Meditation (MED)

Advanced Meditation: The Six Perfections (MED302)
Mondays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM (January 11 – February 1)
The six perfections, or paramitas–generosity, discipline, patience, vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom–describe the practices and training of a bodhisattva. In this advanced meditation class, we will spend time with each paramita for two weeks, continuing through the 4-week Winter and 8-week Early Spring Terms.
How can we activate the six paramitas? We will explore the Buddhist paramitas as applied practices, with the support of classics such as the Bodhicaryavatara and excellent commentaries like Path of Heroes, Atisa’s Lojong, 37 Practices of the Bodhisattvas, and Words of My Perfect Teacher.
Instructor: Lama Palzang. Cost: $72. 
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829709

Beginning Meditation: Developing Inner Serenity (MED102)
Mondays 7:00-8:30 PM (January 11 – February 1)
Meditation is a practice that, when cultivated daily, allows us deep relaxation of body, and an openness and clarity of mind. When body and mind are integrated and balanced, we open to a different and wider perspective on our thoughts and perceptions. Through observing our experience clearly, gaining insight, we naturally change and grow, to become our best selves. In the process, we are able to let go of mental and physical habit patterns that don’t serve us, ultimately leading to enlightenment.
The class can stand alone or can be part of a year-long course designed to develop and sustain a daily meditation practice. You will be introduced to different traditional Tibetan meditation techniques including breath awareness, body movement (Kum Nye TibetanYoga), chanting mantras, and visualization, that support a deeper connection with your own being, strengthening inner confidence, sensing well-being. Includes talks to support the direct experience of meditation, class discussion and readings.
Instructors: Olivia Hurd and Suellen Ehnebuske. Cost: $72. Open to all.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829750

Buddhist Studies (DHS)

Guide to Chanting Tibetan Prayers (DHS114)
Wednesdays, 9:30 – 11:00 AM, PST (January 13 – February 3)
Learn how to chant traditional prayers in the Tibetan language. Practice materials will be provided showing the Tibetan text, phonetic pronunciation, and English translation. In addition to providing background teachings, students will be guided in the pronunciation, melody, and rhythm of selected traditional Buddhist prayers.
Instructors: Lama Palzang and Mark Henderson. Cost: $72. Prerequisite: Sincere interest in the Buddha’s teachings.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829769

Path of Liberation: Majestic Aspirations (DHS209)
Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM, PST (January 12 – February 2)
The wish to free others from suffering can motivate us to overcome all obstacles to spiritual growth. For centuries Buddhist practitioners have expressed their wishes to aid all living beings through reciting prayers of aspiration. This term we will read and study a text known as the Sovereign Prayer for Enlightened Practice (Pranidhana Raja). This text reveals the vast scope of compassionate aspirations, inspiring us on our journey through life.
Instructors: Mark Henderson and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $72. 
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829906

Reading the Sutras: Following the Words of the Buddha (DHS101)
Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:30PM (January 13 – February 3)
Reading the Sutras is an ongoing course that can be joined by anyone interested in learning about the essential sutras in the Buddhist tradition, particularly the Mahayana sutras. We read sutras not as historical texts but as a practical encounter with the teachings of the Buddha. Our goal is to develop a respect for the sutra tradition and to foster an internal examination of how these texts can speak to our twenty-first century experience. This term we study short texts from the Prajnaparamita sutras. We will read the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the story of Sadaprarudita from The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and Its Verse Summary. These texts provide an introduction to the distinctive approach of the Mahayana tradition.
Instructors: Pema Gellek and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $72. 
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829923

Kum Nye (KNR)

Beginning Kum Nye: Body of Knowledge: Relaxation and Vitality (KNR116)
Section One, Evenings: Mondays, 7–8:30 PM, PST with Abbe Blum (January 11–February 1)
Section Two, Mornings: Thursdays, 7–8:30 AM, PST with Anita McNulty (January 14-February 4)
This four-week series develops the flow of feeling in the four main energy centers, promoting healing and vitality through circulation of energy. This is the 3rd semester of the year-long Kum Nye program and is also a continuation of the Kum Nye Teacher Training sequence. While open to anyone, it is advisable to have prior Kum Nye experience.

Section 1: Monday Evenings, Abbe Blum. Cost: $72, Drop-in: $20/class.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829970

Section 2: Thursday Mornings, Anita McNulty. Cost: $72, Drop-in: $20/class.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829988

Advanced Kum Nye: Transforming Breath, Energy, Feeling (KNR301)
Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM (January 12- February 2)
Advanced Kum Nye movement, breath, and visualization practices from Tarthang Tulku’s Joy of Being form the core of these classes. Exercises will be offered on different levels of engagement to challenge the advanced student. This course is an un-course, in the sense that it is a space of exploration best entered without expectations.
Instructor: Santosh Philip. Cost: $72. Prerequisite: two years of Kum Nye practice.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1829990

Anatomy of a Kum Nye Exercise: #18 Hand Magic (KNR131)
Wednesdays, 8:30 – 9:30 AM, PT (January 13 – February 3)
January term: this morning class meets weekly for 1 hour.
We will dedicate this 4-week term to developing and deepening a practice that is presented early in the book, but is not often explored in all its subtlety and interesting variations. We will work intimately with energizing the hands, the specific elements of the main practice, the breath, and inner awareness, until we can fully embody it. As we learn to appreciate different qualities of energy, how will this inform our life? Commitment to daily practice between classes is required to get the full benefit of this course.
Instructor: Donna Morton. Cost: $48. Prerequisites: completed at least one Kum Nye course or workshop, or with permission of the instructor.
Register: https://nyingmainstitute.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1845962

Intermediate Mixed Level Kum Nye: Joy of Being Body of Feeling (KNR209)
Thursdays, 7:00 – 8:30PM (January 14 – February 4)
Kum Nye practice can begin wherever you are. Joy of Being, 176
This four-week series is based on the Joy of Being chapter, “Bringing up the Agent of Awareness.” For the start of the new year, we will do practices that help us touch the roots of perception, relax the compulsion to respond to highly charged emotions, and develop the mindful alertness Kum Nye fosters.
Instructor: Abbe Blum. Cost: $72 Drop-in: $20. Based on Tarthang Tulku’s Joy of Being. Prerequisite: familiarity with Kum Nye through at least one prior class or attending Sunday sessions.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1830008

Nyingma Psychology (NPS)

The Way of Caring: Caring for the Mind (NPS223)
Thursdays, 7:00 –8:30 PM (January 14 – February 4)
Tarthang Tulku writes in Caring that “the source of our problems is the way we have learned to work with mind.” Can we find better ways to care for our own minds? In this four-week class, we work with practices from Caring and Dimensions of Mind, also by Tarthang Tulku, to explore how we can work with mind differently and come to a greater understanding of how we get caught in negative patterns. This class introduces elements from Dimensions of Mind that will be developed in the second half of the Way of Caring course. It is open to all those who care about their lives, meditation, and want a new way to work with mind.
Instructors: Pema Gellek and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $72. 
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1830009

Nyingma Practices (NPR)

Dream Yoga and Authentic Communication (NPR103)
Wednesdays, 7:00 –8:30 PM (January 13 – February 3)
Although we spend many hours dreaming, we may awake with only vague memories of our dreams. Specific meditation and visualization exercises from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition can bring a special awareness into the dream state that heightens consciousness within dreams.
In this course we will be working with practices that relax body and mind and that open responsiveness in the throat area. In particular we will use a visualization practice given in Tarthang Tulku’s chapter “Dream Lotus” in Openness Mind, pp. 87-90.
Instructor: Santosh Philip. Cost: $72. 
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1830010

Tibetan Language (TIB)

Beginning Tibetan Level III (TIB103)
Mondays, 6:15 – 7:45 PM, (January 11 – February 1)
In this beginning language class, students continue studying grammar and working with selections from classical Tibetan texts.
Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $72. Prerequisites: TIB102.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1830012

Intermediate Tibetan III (TIB203)
Thursdays, 6:15 -7:45 PM, (January 14 – February 4)
Continued reading and translation of traditional texts and prayers in the classical Tibetan language.
Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $72. Prerequisites: Beginning Tibetan Level V, or consent of the instructor.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1830013

Advanced Tibetan: Advanced Study (TIB301)
Fridays, 4:30 – 5:45 PM, (January 15-February 5)
This advanced Tibetan course consists of continuing reading and translation in the classical Tibetan language. It is for those who already have a good grasp of grammar, vocabulary, and working with Tibetan texts. Note: No class on January 29th in observance of community retreat.
Instructor: Barr Rosenberg. Cost: $54. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1830014

Time, Space and Knowledge (TSK)

Time, Space and Knowledge: Being Time and Space (TSK108)
Wednesdays, 6:15 – 7:45 PM (January 13 – February 3)
A continuing exploration of Tarthang Tulku’s Time, Space and Knowledge vision. We inquire into our presence as expressions of time, space, and knowledge. In a sense, we are activating and realizing our human potential as visionary beings. Our practice can inform our living and our living informs our practice. The primary text is Dynamics of Time and Space, although we will also engage other works by Tarthang Tulku in the TSK series. Anyone with an interest in exploring experience on a fundamental level is welcome.
Instructor: Ken McKeon. Cost: $72, Drop-in cost: $20, Open to all.
Register: https://register.asapconnected.com/classdetail.aspx?org=4698&pk=1845391