Sundays, 6:00 – 7:00 PM / Dharma Talk or Gathering
April 6: Santosh Philip “How to Bring a Fresh, Alive Quality to Kum Nye Practice” Tarthang Tulku, Founder of Nyingma Institute, writes in Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, “We all have memories of times when we felt particularly alive, when the world seemed fresh and promising, like a flower garden on a bright spring morning.” Does your Kum Nye practice ever feel rote, repetitive, disconnected? It could benefit from an experience of more energy, harmony, and vibrancy. When Kum Nye is practiced correctly, it will empower you to BE as you have never been before. Your BE-ing is capable of transforming your experience to one of feeling nurtured, relaxed, spacious and open. In this talk, Santosh Philip, Kum Nye and Meditation Instructor, will explore what is the key to make your practice come alive, and stay alive. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
April 13: Mark Henderson “Overcoming Anger: A Concise Summary of Key Points” Shantideva’s chapter on patience in his classic text The Way of the Bodhisattva provides several helpful and practical methods to overcome our anger: anger towards others and even anger towards ourselves. In this talk, longtime Nyingma Institute instructor Mark Henderson will summarize these helpful methods and how we might apply them in real time. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
April 20: Dave Abercrombie “Kum Nye and the Senses”
Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche wrote two books of Kum Nye instructions: “Kum Nye – Tibetan Yoga” in 1978 and “Joy of Being – Advanced Kum Nye Practices” in 2006. The later book has chapters devoted to each of the six senses, and for this reason, this is the book that comes to mind when talking about Kum Nye and the senses. However, the activation and use of the senses pervades the practices of the earlier book. This talk will explore the use of the senses in the 1978 set of practice instructions. We will also do a little Kum Nye. David Abercrombie, who has been teaching Kum Nye for 16 years, will lead this talk. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
April 27: Women’s Meditation
May 4: Emily Provosty “Practical Teachings from the Book Tibetan Meditation” In this Dharma talk, Meditation Instructor Emily Provosty, will explore some chapters and exercises from Tarthang Tulku’s book Tibetan Meditation. We will look at some of the principles of meditation, ways to create the right mindset and attitude for meditation, as well as different approaches and exercises that can help us with our practice. This wisdom is relevant to a true beginner as well as to experienced meditators who are looking to reinvigorate their practice. Allow yourselves to release rigidity and have fun experimenting with exercises that can wake up a new way of being. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
May 11. Hugh Joswick “The Quality of Caring” Deep inside all of our cares and concerns there is a quality of caring. Sometimes it is almost invisible, crowded in by worry or resentment, or covered over by exhaustion. But it persists beneath all this, and while it may not always be easy to contact, it has the power to nourish us. – Tarthang Tuku, (Caring, p. 73) Can we contact a quality of caring that could nourish us in each moment of our lives? What would such a fundamental caring be like? Could we learn to develop our awareness of caring and give it a chance to grow? Through discussion and practice, Nyingma Institute instructor Hugh Joswick will explore aspects of Tarthang Tulku’s Caring that can open the “quality of caring” in our lives. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
May 18: Donna Morton and Abbe Blum “How to Be Happy and Feel Contentment through Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga” If you have practiced – or even intend to practice Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga as set out by Tarthang Tulku in three books so far – how have you benefitted? Has your practice grown and sustained you, or have you reached a plateau, or turned to other techniques and modalities to ease tension and stem overwhelm? Perhaps you still don’t feel happy and content though you think you are doing all you can. In this Dharma talk, Kum Nye instructors Donna Morton and Abbe Blum will discuss how through regular Kum Nye practice we can tune into our own inner resources for meaning and satisfaction. Removing blockages, Kum Nye provides a reservoir of energy and empowers awareness. Donna and Abbe will also introduce two major upcoming Kum Nye trainings in which students join a vibrant international community: Level 2 Teacher training, focusing on the second Kum Nye book Joy of Being, begins this October 2025 and Level 1 Teacher Training based in the first book, Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, starts in August of 2026. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
May 25: Women’s Meditation
June 1: Elon Goldstein “Effortless Resting or Effortful Analysis? Advice from Great Masters on How to Meditate Most Effectively” Nowadays in our society we often encounter different advice about what meditation is and how best to meditate. Even if we study Buddhism, we meet with diverse perspectives regarding meditation. For many of us, these seemingly conflicting perspectives can be confusing. Should we focus on the breath while ignoring our thoughts to achieve calm and inner quiet? Should we use attentive awareness to observe and investigate thoughts themselves? Should we question the reality of the self and the mind? Should we visualize positive forms, conceptually ponder topics such as impermanence, and/or strengthen attitudes such as loving kindness? Or, should we release all intentional effort and just let be without any contrivance? Drawing from the writings of two of the greatest masters in the history of the Nyingma tradition, Longchenpa from the fourteenth century and Mipham from the early twentieth, this talk will aim to clarify their view about how various approaches to meditation fit together in the Nyingma tradition. Elon teaches courses on Buddhist religion at Brandeis University and is a longtime student of the Nyingma tradition. He is a scholar of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and also teaches at Dharma College, established by Tarthang Tulku. Online via Zoom only (Nyingma Institute will have an in-person showing)
June 8: Mark Henderson “ The Way of the Bodhisattva” Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara) is a guide to cultivating awakened mind (bodhicitta) and to generating love, compassion, and the enlightening qualities of generosity, discipline, patience, joyous effort, meditative concentration, and transcendent wisdom. Inspired by the celestial bodhisattva Manjushri, this text was first spoken in verse by Shantideva in the eighth century at the monastic university of Nalanda. Ever since, The Way of the Bodhisattva has inspired and guided generations of Mahayana practitioners on the path to a true and perfect awakening of the heart. This talk by longtime Buddhist Studies instructor Mark Henderson, will provide an overview of Shantideva’s text, the entirety of which will be the subject of a Buddhist Studies course offered this Summer Term at the Nyingma Institute. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
June 15: Erika Rosenberg “Nurturing Compassion in Tough Times” In this world of climate change, ongoing global distress, and communities divided by political discourse, we need compassion now more than ever. Compassion can heal divisiveness, and encourage helping, and build community, but it can be hard to muster the strength to do it when we feel so shaken ourselves. It is a challenge to maintain compassion for yourself during tumultuous times and offer compassion to others – especially those people with opposing views. Nyingma Instructor and Psychological Scientist Dr. Erika Rosenberg will explore these concerns and offer some gentle practices for finding stability and building strength in the face of adversity. Online via Zoom and in-person at Nyingma Institute
June 22: Pauline Yu and Laurie Hopman “Mind Detox: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Well-Being” Just as a river naturally purifies itself when we stop polluting it, our minds have an innate capacity to heal when we recognize and remove what harms them. But what exactly are the “toxins” clouding our mental clarity and emotional balance? In this illuminating talk by two Nyingma Psychology Instructors, Dr. Laurie Hopman and Pauline Yu, discover how the five poisons of Buddhist psychology—attachment, aversion, ignorance, pride, and jealousy—are surprisingly relevant to our modern struggles. Learn practical strategies to identify these patterns in your own life and tap into your mind’s natural capacity for renewal and peace. Join us for a fresh perspective on an ancient framework that offers a path to genuine well-being in our complex world. Online via Zoom only (Nyingma Institute will have an in-person showing)
June 29: Women’s Meditation