Sundays, 6:00 – 7:00 PM / Dharma Talk or Gathering
July 6th: Jack Petranker “Full Presence: A Way into the Teachings of Tarthang Tulku on Time, Space, & Knowledge”
For almost 50 years, Rinpoche Tarthang Tulku has explored in depth how our limited understanding of time and space cut off the deeper knowledge that could transform our lives. Subtle and profound, these teachings can be challenging to engage. In this talk, Jack Petranker, founder of the Center for Creative Inquiry, former Dean of the Nyingma Institute, and a close student of Tarthang Tulku for 45 years, will introduce Full Presence Mindfulness, an approach to living more dynamically in time and space, open to all that appears.
July 13th: Bob Dozor “Unlocking Earth’s Healing: Sacred Space & the Wisdom to the Keys of Knowledge”
Are we on the brink of ecological disaster? Climate disruption is accelerating. Social cohesion is frayed. It is not too late to restore our planet; there can be a “great turning,” but we may also have to go through a “great unravelling” first. Buddhist contemplative practice offers compassion and wisdom for living in these times. We have been exploring Embodied Ecology at Dharma College about which chapter seven of Tarthang Tulku’s 2016 book Keys of Knowledge, entitled – We Embody Knowledge, is a crystal-clear example. This chapter is the centerpiece of the talk.
July 20th: Emily Provosty “Cultivating Joy”
“The starting point for change is to cultivate a sense of well-being. We all have the capacity for joy, even if we sometimes seem to forget that’s true. Whatever is happening on the surface of our lives, we can look within to discover positive healing energies and experience.” (Dimensions of Mind, p. 20). Joy is not something that we earn or achieve through external success, it is our birthright and something we can access right here and now. In this talk, we will work with practices that encourage joyful feelings to arise in our experience. Through touching into joy, we can bring life back into our senses and embodiment and naturally radiate positivity out into the world.
July 27th: (Women’s Meditation)
August 3rd: Mark Henderson “Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher and the Preliminary Practices”
Patrul Rinpoche is one of the greatest figures in the Nyingma lineage. Known for his blunt and uncompromising style, Patrul Rinpoche is both colorful and supremely realized. His text The Words of My Perfect Teacher is an essential guide to the preliminary practices (ngondro) of all schools, but particularly our Longchen Nyingtik lineage. Patrul Rinpoche guides us through the outer preliminaries that turn our minds to the spiritual path. Then he opens up that path – the accumulation of merit and purification of misdeeds – through teachings on refuge, the mind of awakening, Vajrasattva, mandala offering, and guru yoga, as well as the swift path of transference of consciousness. Patrul Rinpoche’s voice is a quintessential introduction to Tibetan Buddhist practice and personal growth, ultimately leading toward full realization. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute.
August 10th: Santosh Philip “Into the Heart of Balance & Relaxation”
Tibetan Relaxation also known as Kum Nye, is a practice leading to balance and relaxation. Relaxation in the body, in the sense of seeing, the sense of hearing, the sense of smell, the sense of taste, touch and the sense of mind itself. Balance in thoughts and emotions, balance in energy and stillness, balance in all directions. The movements and practices are simple and accessible to anyone. What is the secret that makes relaxation manifest through such simple movements? Long time Kum Nye instructor Santosh Philip will introduce Tibetan Relaxation pointing to the secrets that will quickly bring about deep relaxation and balance.
August 17th: Eddie Van Cott “Slow Drips of Dharma”
How does the Dharma slowly shift from intellect, to intuition? The Dharma, as it progressively begins to yield results, moves from mere concepts in the mind to a deep, transformative resonance in the heart, from theoretical understanding to lived experience. As time goes on, a subtle change begins to happen within each practitioner, when the teachings begin to take hold and take effect. Eddie Van Cott, practitioner for over 10 years and full-time Nyingma Institute volunteer, will share his experience shifting towards a more beneficial & rewarding practice that creates a positive change that radiates through your life.
August 24th: Donna Morton “The Power of Kum Nye’s ‘Cleansing Breath’: Purifying Body & Mind”
Kum Nye exercise #13, Cleansing Breath, has traditional roots in Buddhist practice of purification of the three main energy channels, and in particular the clearing of residues of the 3 poisons – aversion, attachment, and ignorance – that accumulate in the body. In this hour presentation, we will look at the some of the main points of the subtle body anatomy that inform this practice, the features of the practice itself, and then practice together. It has benefits for body, breath and mind that make it a valuable practice to perform every day.
August 31st: (Women’s Meditation)
September 7th: Hugh Joswick “Guardians of the Dharma: the Sixteen Arhats in Tibet”
Join us as we explore the significance of the Sixteen Arhats in Tibetan art and literature. Hugh Joswick, long-time instructor at the Nyingma Institute and co-editor of Mangalam Press’s latest publication, Guardians of the Dharma: The Sixteen Arhats in Tibet, delves into the cultural influence of these revered figures. Highlighting a unique set of Bhutanese paintings that were central to the development of this book, a fresh perspective is offered on the legacy of the Sixteen Elders in the Himalayan region.
September 14th: Abbe Blum “Healing & Feeling: Meditation, Movement, Stillness and the Transformational Power of Kum Nye”
“Relaxation gives us the inner space we need for feelings to arise and flow throughout the body, and meditation encourages this flow of feeling and expands and deepens it. This is the priceless value of Kum Nye: It integrates the energies of body, senses and mind with the transformative power of awareness, turning all aspects of our embodiment toward universal benefit.” (The Joy of Being pp. 144-45)
How might deepening the practice of Kum Nye transform even very troubling manifestations of negative energy into supports for peace, joy, and spiritual health? The second Kum Nye book, The Joy of Being, teaches us to tune into our own inner resources in order to create a new home of feeling. This Dharma talk includes practices that connect heart and head, inviting calmness and joyful feelings to circulate. Tarthang Tulku tells us that through our practice, we can heal emotional stress and ease physical pain, and thus begin to develop the experience of Kum Nye toward meditation.
September 21st: Caz Verde “Why Begin a Meditation Practice? Learning to Sit with Ourselves”
What draws us to begin meditating? In this heartfelt talk, longtime practitioner Caz Verde shares personal reflections on what led them to the cushion later in life, and why meditation continues to offer something real and lasting. Caz is joined by 21-year-old Ella Atwood, offering a fresh, honest perspective from the beginning of her own journey with meditation.
September 28th: (Women’s Meditation)