Classes (Online)
Bring awareness practice into your everyday life. Classes are a wonderful way to cultivate a regular meditation practice or to engage with contemplation, inquiry, or deep relaxation of mind, body, senses over a longer period of time than afforded by a workshop or a retreat.
All classes are online; a select number are hybrid (both online and in person) based on the discretion of the instructor. After you enroll, you will receive an email with the Zoom link from faculty about a day before your class begins. The same link will be used each week for your class.
EARLY FALL CLASSES
8 weeks: August 21 – October 14, 2023
BUDDHIST STUDIES
Sutra Study: Essential Teachings from the Second Turning – The Lotus Sutra (DHS123)
Wednesdays 10:00 – 11:30 AM, PT (August 23 — October 11, 2023)
Online only
This class is an ongoing introduction to the essential teachings of the Buddhist sutras. We present historical background on the sutras, read aloud key passages, and discuss the importance of the ideas and practices that the Buddha invites us to contemplate. We complement our discussion with guided reflections and meditations. This term we read from an important Mahayana sutra that greatly influenced Buddhism in China and East Asia. The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, known familiarly as The Lotus Sutra, presents essential Mahayana themes in an accessible way through story and metaphor. Taught at Vulture Peak, the sutra emphasizes the nature of skillful means and that the Buddha’s teachings are of a single vehicle. The Buddha is presented as a manifestation of transcendent Buddhahood beyond ordinary time and space, while the compassionate nature of the Buddha is illustrated in the expedient ways that awaken those who encounter these teachings. The sutra expresses the infinite vision of the Buddha’s skillful means. We will use a recent translation of the sutra from the 84000 translation group, which is available online.
Instructors: Pema Gellek & Hugh Joswick. Cost: $144. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450115
Compassion in Action: The Dharma in History (DHS205)
Fourth Term of the Path of Liberation Program
Tuesdays 7:00 – 8:30 PM, PT (August 22 – October 10)
Online and In-person at the Nyingma Institute
The depth and vastness of the Dharma restores the foundation, purpose, and direction of human life, inspiring a way of living oriented toward loving-kindness, compassion, and selflessness. This term we explore what it means to live a life dedicated to compassion and wisdom. We examine the nature of the bodhisattva and trace the movement of the Dharma through different times and cultures. We also focus on the early development of Buddhism in India and explore key philosophical inquiries of the Madhyamaka tradition. Note that there are two workshops included with this course.
Instructors: Hugh Joswick & Mark Henderson. Cost: $144. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450118
MEDITATION
Advanced Meditation: The Power of Merit: Seven Branch Offerings and the King of Aspiration (MED326)
Mondays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM, PT (August 21 — October 9, 2023)
Online only
Merit and wisdom are the two accumulations that are necessary to progress towards enlightenment, and the Seven Branch Offerings are regarded as one of the most expedient ways to generate merit. In this advanced meditation and practices class, we will be working with the Pranidanaraja, also known as the King of Aspiration Prayers, and the Seven Branch Offerings, which are an essential and effective set of practices contained within many texts and pujas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
With oceans of sounds and rivers of melody,
With oceans of inexhaustible praise,
I celebrate the qualities of all the Victorious Ones,
And praise those gone to bliss.
–Pranidanaraja, King of Aspiration Prayers
Instructors: Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek. Cost: $144. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450130
KUM NYE
Advanced Kum Nye: Focus and Concentration (KNR319)
Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM, PT (August 22 – October 10, 2023)
Online only
“Execute each single motion with gentle concentration; not a fixated concentration, but a kind of openness that will encourage awareness.”—Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, p. 21.
In this year-long series for experienced Kum Nye practitioners, we will approach each of the six perfections through Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga as embodied forms, feelings, and movements. The six perfections are the practices of a bodhisattva, one who has oriented their entire being to pure altruism and awakening. This term’s class is inspired by and will playfully explore the practice of concentration.
Instructor: Santosh Philip. Cost: $144. Prerequisite: two years of Kum Nye practice. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450134
Anatomy of a Kum Nye Exercise: Exploring Senses and Perception, Part 1 (KNR133)
Wednesdays, 8:00 – 9:00 AM, PT (August 23 – October 11, 2023)
Online only
In this 8-week series, we move into Part 3 of Joy of Being: Senses and Perception. With breath and body our foundation and the basis of relaxation and meditation, we now explore the senses as gateways to experience, and practices that cleanse the sensory ‘filters’ that have kept us locked in conditioned patterns of perception.
Instructor: Donna Morton. Cost: $96. Prerequisites: at least one Kum Nye course or workshop. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450139
All-Levels Kum Nye: The Healing Art of Kum Nye Practice (KNR121)
Thursdays, 7:30 – 8:30 AM, PT (August 24 – October 12, 2023)
Online Only
“Kum Nye heals both our bodies and minds, bringing their energies together to function calmly and smoothly”—Tarthang Tulku.
We explore practices and exercises from the first Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga book: inner and outer massage of feeling, breath, sitting, working with the senses, and the energy centers. The emphasis is on “how to do Kum Nye” and will be oriented toward practice.
This course may be attended as a series or as a drop-in class. Basic instructions will be included in each class for anyone new to Kum Nye. Appropriate for all levels and abilities; adaptations to exercises will be included for those with physical limitations. Experienced and beginning students are welcome and may join at any time.
Instructor: Anita McNulty and Dave Abercrombie. Cost: $90 discounted price for the whole series, $12 per drop-in. Sign up available until 1 hour prior to class start. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450143
Beginning Kum Nye: Listening to the Body, Healing Body and Mind (KNR182)
Mondays 6-7:30 PM, PT (August 21 – October 9, 2023)
Online and In-Person at the Nyingma Institute
This is the first semester of a year-long introduction to Kum Nye Tibetan yoga, a gentle healing system adapted by Tibetan lama Tarthang Tulku for the West. This Fall we learn to listen to our bodies, opening our senses and touching our feelings directly. We explore how we can integrate body and mind in all our activities, promoting relaxation that has a vital and lasting quality. Anyone who wants to learn Kum Nye systematically is encouraged to start here.
The Monday class can be taken online and is also offered in person for those who are local to the Nyingma Institute. This is the first of 5 semesters of the Kum Nye Teacher Training program, and it is also open to anyone who wants to learn or develop a Kum Nye practice.
Instructors: Anita McNulty, Donna Morton, Santosh Philip, and Abbe Blum. Cost: $144. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450149
Nine-Month Program August 2023 – June 2024
Kum Nye Rhythm: Living the Kum Nye Experience (KNR550)
Early Fall Term 1: Slow, Graceful, Rhythmic
Thursdays 6:00 – 7:30 pm, PT (August 24, 2023 – October 12, 2024)
Includes 5 workshops and 1 retreat
Online and In-person at the Nyingma Institute
Many of us who do KN and have positive experiences notice that the beneficial effects wane over time – even after a retreat or intensive practice. The Kum Nye Rhythm Program emphasizes Kum Nye as inner experience. We tune into an internal knowingness that develops Kum Nye as our compass for sustained well-being, self- healing, curiosity, and joy. We will often move to music; a main ingredient for continuing and deepening the Kum Nye experience is introducing a genuine rhythm into our practice. As we do this, we align mind and body with the subtle pulse of our lives and “the vitality of the universe itself” (Kum nye Tibetan Yoga p. 4) .
Over 5 terms, from August through early June, we connect to and refine this inner compass of Kum Nye. Practice and theory will be drawn from all 3 books: Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, Joy of Being, and Kum Nye Dancing. One workshop per term is included, and there is a weekend retreat in early December.
Terms can be taken separately, but it is especially beneficial to take the full year.
There is a discount of 10% if you sign up for the whole program.
Early Fall Term Topic:
“The external form of the exercises may be stillness, breathing, self-massage, or movement, but the inner exercise or massage, the essence of Kum Nye, is with feeling… Consider your postures and gestures part of the quality of your experience, and be mindful of how they affect your feelings. Whenever you move, do so slowly, gracefully, and rhythmically.”
–Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, p. 21
The inner practice of Kum Nye, its essence, is with feeling. We can deepen our KN experience and have fun by exploring slow, graceful, rhythmic movement. Varying the pace of exercises, engaging beyond a mechanical level, we tune into feeling, embracing subtle energy and encouraging self-discovery.
Instructor: Abbe Blum. Cost: Students receive a 10% discount for the registering for the whole program, $144 for Early Fall term. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2451089
NYINGMA PSYCHOLOGY
Knowledge of Freedom 9 month Program (NPS509)
Thursdays, 10-11:30 AM (PDT)/ 19-20:30 (CEST) (September 7 2023 – May 30 2024)
Online only
This Knowledge of Freedom (KOF) program is intended for students with sufficient experience in meditation and self-observation to make precise forms of introspection possible. In a very practice-oriented way, the KOF program investigates, step-by-step, the patterns and conditioning that dominate us individually and collectively. Working with the three vehicles of body, speech, and mind, the program cultivates the innate capacity of our hearts and minds for a realization that is not constrained by self-imposed limitations.
The program consists of 31 weekly classes, weekly self-observations and reading assignments, and 2 webinar-based weekend retreats.
The classes begin September 7, 2023 and conclude May 30, 2024.
- Thursdays 10-11:30 AM (PDT)/ 19-20:30 (CEST)
Please note that there is no class on October 18, December 27, January 3, May 2, or May 9: these breaks are partly different from our usual academic calendar as they are in sync with our Amsterdam center’s scheduling.
Two weekend retreats complete the program.
The retreats each consist of two webinars, with a webinar running 3 hours. Daily webinar times: 10 -13 AM (PDT), 7- 10 PM (CEST).
Both retreats are included in the program cost. They can also be attended by those not taking the program for $115 or 105 euros.
Instructors: Abbe Blum, Elske Van de Hulst. Cost: $630 or €585 can be paid in 9 monthly installments of or $70 or €65 per month. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2410001
TIBETAN LANGUAGE
Advanced Tibetan Tutorial (TIB302)
Fridays, 3:30 – 4:45 pm, PT (August 25 – October 13, 2023)
Online only
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.
Instructor: Barr Rosenberg. Cost: $120. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450168
Intermediate Tibetan Level V (TIB205)
Thursdays, 6:15 -7:45 pm, PT (August 24 – October 12, 2023)
Online only
Continued reading and translation of traditional texts and prayers in the classical Tibetan language.
Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $144. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2450170
LATE FALL CLASSES
8 weeks: October 23 – December 16, 2023
BUDDHIST STUDIES
Sutra Study: The Teaching of Vimalakirti (DHS124)
(No class on the day before Thanksgiving)
Wednesdays, 10:00 – 11:30 am, PT (October 25 to December 13, 2023)
Online only
This term we study a recent translation of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. In 1999, a Sanskrit text of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa was discovered in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Prior translations of this sutra into English were made from Chinese or Tibetan texts that had themselves been translated from an earlier Sanskrit text, which was thought to be lost. With this recent discovery, we are that much closer to the Indian words. The sūtra centers around the mysterious figure of Vimalakīrti, a wealthy householder recognized by the Buddha as a brilliantly realized bodhisattva, whose teachings can intimidate even Manjushri. With incisive interrogation, humorous dialogue, and fantastic miracles, Vimalakīrti presents the nonduality of the Mahayana path with striking clarity and immediacy. The Buddha’s dialogues with bodhisattvas and ordinary people of his time illuminate immutable truths of the human condition and the possibility of embodying a path of awakening.
Sutra Study is an ongoing course that examines essential sutras within the Mahayana tradition. We read the sutras not as remote historical texts but as a transformative encounter with the Buddhavacana. Through careful reading, focused discussion, and meditation practices we appreciate more fully the breadth and depth of the sutra tradition and contemplate how these teachings speak directly to our present experience. The book is available from https://mangalampress.org/publications
Instructors: Pema Gellek and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $126. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2452550
Compassion in Action, Part 2: Development of Buddhist Philosophy and
Practice (DHS205.b)
Term Five in the Path of Liberation Program
Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, PT (October 24 – December 12, 2023)
Online and In-person at the Nyingma Institute
The depth and vastness of the Dharma inspires a way of living oriented toward loving- kindness, compassion, and selflessness. Continuing from Compassion in Action: the Dharma in History, we look at what it means to live a life dedicated to compassion and wisdom, tracing the movement of the Mahayana through the teachings of the great Indian masters and the transmission of Buddhism into Tibet. We will look at some of the principal teachers in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Note that there is one workshop included with this class.
Instructors: Mark Henderson and Hugh Joswick. Cost: $144. Prerequisite: sincere interest in the Buddha’s teachings. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2452555
MEDITATION
Advanced Meditation: Shechen Gyaltsap–Steps in Meditation and the Enlightened Heart (MED327)
Mondays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, PT (October 23 — December 11, 2023)
Online only
The supreme master Shechen Gyaltsap was one of the most brilliant Tibetan scholars and teachers of the 19th century. He was a heart-disciple of Lama Mipham, spent many years in retreat near Shechen Monastery, and was the root teacher of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and many other notable masters.
This term, we will practice instructions from two of Shechen Gyaltsap’s important works: The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality, which elegantly elucidates relative and absolute bodhicitta, and Path of Heroes, a commentary on the Seven Essentials of Self-Mastery, a famous text by the twelfth-century Kadampa master Chekhawa Yeshe Dorje.
Instructors: Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek. Cost $144. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2452559
Beginning Meditation: Quiet Mind, Receptive Heart (MED104)
Wednesdays 7:00 – 8:15 pm, PT (October 25 – December 13, 2023)
Online and In-person at the Nyingma Institute
When we make the commitment to meditate, we are creating an opportunity to meet our moment-to-moment experience in very different ways than we usually do. Learning to meditate is an invitation to experiment and explore the inner space of meditative awareness and open ourselves to a path of self-knowledge. More than just being calm, meditation has the potential to stabilize the mind, relax the body and open our hearts to greater generosity and kindness toward ourselves and for others.
In this class, we will learn traditional meditation techniques to quiet and clarify the mind, practices that widen our perspective, develop inner serenity, and balance the energy of body and mind.
The class practices include Kum Nye Tibetan yoga slow movement exercises, silent as well as lightly guided meditations, chanting, visualizations, and reflections. All with a focus on cultivating awareness and well-being.
Aspiring meditators, beginning meditators and those with previous meditation experience who would like to stabilize a lapsed practice are most welcome. Supporting text will be from Hidden Mind of Freedom, by Tarthang Tulku.
Instructor: Suellen Ehnebuske. Cost : $105. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2452598
KUM NYE
Advanced Kum Nye: Focus and Concentration (KNR319)
Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, PT (October 24 – December 12, 2023)
Online only
“Execute each single motion with gentle concentration; not a fixated concentration, but a kind of openness that will encourage awareness.”—Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, 21.
In this year-long series for experienced Kum Nye practitioners, we will approach each of the six perfections through Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga as embodied forms, feelings, and movements. The six perfections are the practices of a bodhisattva, one who has oriented their entire being to pure altruism and awakening. This term’s class is inspired by and will playfully explore the practice of concentration.
Instructor: Santosh Philip. Cost: $144. Prerequisite: two years of Kum Nye practice. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2452602
Anatomy of a Kum Nye Exercise: Exploring Senses and Perception, Part 2 (KNR134)
Wednesdays, 8:00 – 9:00 AM, PT (October 25 – December 13, 2023)
Online only
In this 8-week series, we continue with Part 3 of Joy of Being: Senses and Perception. With breath and body our foundation and the basis of relaxation and meditation, we continue to explore the senses as gateways to experience, and practices that cleanse the sensory ‘filters’ that have kept us locked in conditioned patterns of perception.
Instructor: Donna Morton. Cost: $96. Prerequisites: Senses and Perception, Part 1, or permission of instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2453391
Nine-Month Program August 2023 – June 2024
Kum Nye Rhythm: Living the Kum Nye Experience (KNR550)
Late Fall Term 2: Attuning to the Positive, Savoring Feeling
Thursdays 6:00 – 7:30 pm, PT (October 26 – December 14, 2023)
Online and In-person at the Nyingma Institute
This second term continues discovering the genuine rhythms of our practice. We refine ways to follow the momentum of feeling and learn to listen to the pulse of inner knowing. We practice staying with the pure flavor of feeling, without losing ourselves in thoughts or emotionality: “Sustained practice will purify the flavor of the feeling; eventually only the essence will remain” —Joy of Being, p. 37.
Instructor: Abbe Blum. Cost: 10% discount for the whole program, or $144 for the Late Fall Term. Prerequisite: at least one year of Kum Nye or permission of instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2451172
NYINGMA PSYCHOLOGY
Knowledge of Freedom 9 month Program (NPS509)
Thursdays, 10-11:30 AM (PDT)/ 19-20:30 (CEST) (September 7 2023 – May 30, 2024)
Online only
This Knowledge of Freedom (KOF) program is intended for students with sufficient experience in meditation and self-observation to make precise forms of introspection possible. In a very practice-oriented way, the KOF program investigates, step-by-step, the patterns and conditioning that dominate us individually and collectively. Working with the three vehicles of body, speech, and mind, the program cultivates the innate capacity of our hearts and minds for a realization that is not constrained by self-imposed limitations.
The program consists of 31 weekly classes, weekly self-observations and reading assignments, and 2 webinar-based weekend retreats.
The classes begin September 7, 2023 and conclude May 30, 2024.
- Thursdays 10-11:30 AM (PDT)/ 19-20:30 (CEST)
Please note that there is no class on October 18, December 27, January 3, May 2, or May 9: these breaks are partly different from our usual academic calendar as they are in sync with our Amsterdam center’s scheduling.
Two weekend retreats complete the program.
The retreats each consist of two webinars, with a webinar running 3 hours. Daily webinar times: 10 -13 AM (PDT), 7- 10 PM (CEST).
Both retreats are included in the program cost. They can also be attended by those not taking the program for $115 or 105 euros.
Instructors: Abbe Blum, Elske Van de Hulst. Cost: $630 or €585 can be paid in 9 monthly installments of or $70 or €65 per month. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2410001
TIBETAN LANGUAGE
Advanced Tibetan Tutorial (TIB302)
Fridays, 3:30 – 4:45 pm, PT (October 27 – December 15, 2023)
Online only
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.
Instructor: Barr Rosenberg. Cost: $120. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2453395
Intermediate Tibetan Level V (TIB205)
No Class on Thanksgiving Day
Thursdays, 6:15 -7:45 pm, PT (October 26 – December 14, 2023)
Continued reading and translation of traditional texts and prayers in the classical Tibetan language.
Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $126. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2453403
Beginning Tibetan Level I (TIB101)
Wednesdays, 6:15 – 7:45 pm, PT (October 25 – December 13, 2023)
In this beginning level language class, students study vocabulary and grammar while working with selections from classical Tibetan texts.
Instructor: Mark Henderson. Cost: $144. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Registration: https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=4698#EventID=2453407