IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
The summer is here and many of us are busy tending the garden, putting in extra hours at work, or preparing for an adventure. It is also a time when we can wander through nature, find that welcoming rock beside a stream and take a well deserved seat.
As we experience the activities of summer we can also be caught off guard by an unexpected circumstance. Perhaps you found chipmunks digging up the fruit of your garden? Maybe your child breaks their arm from a skateboard accident and causes you to miss a work deadline and rethink vacation plans? Maybe you sense something lurking behind you as you take a walk through the woods?
As I was relating to such a circumstance I recalled a teaching from the late Zen Master Bankei…
A layman said to him: “I sometimes feel startled when I’m surprised by some sound, such as a clap of thunder. Is this because I’m not in control all the time? How can I guard against this so that, no matter what happens, I won’t feel startled?
Bankei said: “If you feel startled, it’s fine just to feel that way. When you try to guard against it, you’re creating duality.”
Perhaps these mishaps are an opportunity to wake up, deepen the richness in ourselves and share that wealth with our environment and those who inhabit it? Trungpa Rinpoche said: “The nature of generosity is to be free from desire, free from attachment, able to let go of anything. “
As many of you know our dear friend and co-founder of The Wisdom Seat Matt DiRodio will be entering the three year retreat in August. When Matt told me he was going on retreat I was joyfully shocked. But then the question arose… Who is going to Umdze Nyinthun?
Lucky for us Matt is also an excellent teacher and I suspect we will find some refreshingly colorful surprises at the helm of the gong.
Among the immeasurable amount of work that Matt has done here at TWS he has nurtured a healthy Nyinthun practice for our community. Our Nyinthun is both in person and online on the first Sunday of every month. Nyinthun | The Wisdom Seat I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join us and connect with some new and old faces during this day of practice. And if you are inspired to lead a Nyinthun please reach out to us. There is a path for that too!
On behalf of The Wisdom Seat, please enjoy your summer, be kind and let’s make a point to see each other soon.
In closing I would like to thank Matt for being a good friend, mentor, and example to all of us at The Wisdom Seat. May you continue to be a light in darkness. May the lineage haunt you at every step! May your smile touch every heart! Have a good retreat my friend!
Yours in the Dharma,
Jeremiah Fruchtman
Tech Notes from Bill
We have just published a new Podcast episode: Preparing for the 3 Year Retreat with Matt DiRodio. Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Additionally, there is a recording of our recent "A Mindful Gathering" titled "The Dalai Lama's Book Agent" available on our website's forum.
We will be having our "A Mindful Gathering" again in July, but the date is TBD. An announcement will be put out when that is ready.
We would like to remind you to take some time and visit our Instagram page, @wisdomseat_stevemccurry. Here, you will find an array of enlightening teachings and breathtaking images that are bound to inspire and awaken your mind and spirit. We have curated these posts with utmost care and diligence to provide you with a source of inspiration and learning. We are thrilled about our collaboration with Steve McCurry Studios, a partnership we believe will bridge our communities. Through the combined power of beauty and wisdom, we aim to create deep and meaningful connections among us all. We look forward to your continued support and engagement with our content.
-Bill Moriarty
Wednesday Meditation
Ongoing offering: Online meditation every Wednesday evening 6:15 to 7:30 PM EST
Worldwide Wednesday evening online sitting meditation practice.
We, at The Wisdom Seat, invite you to meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:15 – 7:30 PM Eastern Time to practice the sitting meditation discipline as taught in the Buddhist & Shambhala tradition of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Nyinthun: Everyone is welcome!
Ongoing offering: Nyinthun (in-person and online) The first Sunday of every month. All day sitting interspersed with walking meditation. The word nyinthun*, is Tibetan for “day session.”
In understanding dharma, Trungpa Rinpoche placed a strong emphasis on mindfulness/awareness meditation practice. This community practice of Nyinthun - all day sitting interspersed with walking meditation - gives us the opportunity to experience the full spectrum of our mind, make friends with our immediate experience and rediscover our natural sanity.
Please take a look, and sign up to join us for some nyinthun retreat days. It is ok to join for as much of the day as you can.
The Wisdom Seat Retreat
October 12 - 20, 2024
This 8-day practice intensive is designed to help us deepen our mindfulness-awareness meditation and integrate it into our daily life.
The retreat will include:
6 - 7 hours of daily shrine room meditation alternating sitting and walking during each session
Daily breath and body relaxation practices
Daily readings from Buddhist texts
Outdoor walking meditation
Individual meditation instruction upon request
Periodic group meditation instruction
75 - 90 minutes of daily chores
Participants will be asked to observe “functional silence” throughout most of the retreat, limiting verbal communication to a minimum.
Since the retreat will be limited to 30 participants, those attending will be expected to participate in all 8 days of the retreat.
Location: Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
Woodstock, NY
Collaborative practice undertaking with The Wisdom Seat & The Profound Treasury Retreat
The Wisdom Seat encourages as many opportunities for practitioners to engage in the discipline of mindfulness/awareness(shamatha/vipashyana) as one can engage in. We are happy to invite the Profound Treasury Retreat (PTR) with their offering of Sunday sitting.
PTR community is hosting a 2-hour sitting session from 9:30am to 11:30 am EST
There will be meditation instruction every third Sunday of the month, given by a qualified meditation instructor.
Dates: July 14th, 21st, 28th
Here is the Zoom link for this session: Sunday Sitting Zoom Link
All are welcome to attend.
KARMÊ CHÖLING
Sons & Daughters of Noble Family-Speaker Series
May 12th - October 20th
Sundays 1pm - 3pm EST
Online
Join more than twenty individuals who began their Buddhist path as students of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, or within the Vajradhatu / Shambhala community, and who have continued walking the path of dharma in an extraordinary variety of ways.Speakers and participants will together, explore the richness of our greater Vajradhatu/Shambhala extended dharma family, as well as have an opportunity to cross-pollinate our understanding of each other’s lineages and paths.
BONUS: Sept. 29 - Join Michael Carroll for a discussion on The Wisdom Seat and Meeting the Spiritual Challenge of Modern Materialism
Celebrate Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche's 90th Birthday
Arrival on August 17th at 7:30 pm EST
Departure on August 26th at 9:00 am EST
At Karmê Chöling
Taught by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Jim Scott & Scott Wellenbach
Please join us for a very special celebration of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche's 90th birthday! This 8-day long Vajrayana event will feature the Sadhana of Mahamudra written by Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso and will be led by Khenpo's students Jim Scott, Birgit Scott, Scott Wellenbach, Sukhi Barber, Alexander deVaron, and others. The lung of the sadhana will be given at the beginning of the retreat.
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche's principal student will give teachings on the Sadhana of Mahamudra during his weekend residence. The practice will include singing, dancing and lujong (Tibetan yoga) as has been taught by Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso in his well known 13 retreats at Karme Choling.
Prerequisite: Vajrayana students who have received pointing out instructions.
Early Bird Special Tuition is $990 when you pay by July 14.
Price increases to $1175 after that date.
Dorje Denma Ling
A Month of Meditation: Shamatha-Vipashyana Dathün 2024
(Weekthün opportunities available)
July 19th - August 18th
Dorje Denma Ling - Nova Scotia, Canada
Taught by Val Loring
Dathün is a month-long, group meditation retreat of shamatha-vipashyana, or mindfulness-awareness practice. This is the basic sitting meditation that goes back to the Buddha, which also includes contemplative practices for cultivating insight and compassion. Practicing together as a group creates an atmosphere of courage and wakefulness.
The dathün follows the basic schedule developed by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The daily schedule begins at 7am and ends around 9pm most evenings. Sitting meditation sessions are alternated with walking meditation throughout the day. The three main meals are served and eaten in the meditation hall using the Zen contemplative eating practice of oryoki. After lunch, there is a mid-day work period, when participants have light cleaning and kitchen tasks, which are opportunities for meditation in action.
PROGRAM CONTACT:
Karen Porterfield
KATOG CHOLING GON
Heart Sutra with Khentrul Lodrö T'haye Rinpoche
Two Weekends
July 27th - 28th
August 24th - 25th
Live Webcast Teaching
The Heart Sutra is the Buddha’s quintessential teaching on wisdom. It elucidates the true nature of phenomena, just as it is, free of all elaborations. Studying this text leads us to profound insight (vipashyana), which is the view; practicing it is meditation; completely integrating it is conduct; and realizing it is the fruition.
This will be the most in-depth teaching Khentrul Lodrö T’haye Rinpoche has given on the Heart Sutra. While Rinpoche has previously taught on this topic, he will delve more extensively into its meaning over the course of two weekends.
Nyingtik Yabzhi
November 8th – 12th
Nyingtik Tsapod
November 14th – 17th
Katog Choling Gön (Katog Rit’hröd) Retreat Center
Parthenon, Arkansas
On the occasion of the consecration of the new temple and representations, Khentrul Lodrö T’hayé Rinpoche offers this special event at the Katog Choling Gön retreat center in Parthenon, Arkansas.
You may attend just the Nyingtik Yabzhi or just the Nyingtik Tsapod or both, but full attendance of either section is mandatory. The Nyingtik Yabzhi will be from the morning of the 8th to the evening of 12th. The 13th serves as a rest and travel day. The Nyingtik Tsapod will be from the morning of the 14th to the evening of the 17th. You must arrive the day before and depart the day after these dates for either both or one of the teachings.
The cost for attending both events is a sliding scale $560-800. The amount is reduced if you are attending only one of the empowerments. Katog-provided accommodations are an extra charge. Full cost and accommodation details are provided during the registration process below.
Link for Registration & Questionnaire: https://katog.org/event/2024-11-8-katogrithrodgon/
VAJRA REGENT OSEL TENDZIN LIBRARY
Vajrayogini Teachings by Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin
Class will meet once/month
June 30th, July 28th, September 22nd, October 20th, November 17th, December 15th
Online
The course is based on the Vajrayogini teachings of Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin from the new book, The Indestructible Path: The Sadhana of the Coemergent Mother. At each class we will listen to and discuss the audio recordings of the talks from the two Vajrayogini ATS programs taught by the Vajra Regent with the Dorje Loppön in 1984 and 1985.
You may attend any or all classes. There is no charge for participation, but the course is only for sadhakas.
NOTE: If you are unable to attend one of the classes, they will all be recorded and posted on the Timeline.
TO REGISTER
If you have already registered with us as an empowered Vajrayogini practitioner, please let us know if you would like to pursue this course, click jackiesaunders10@gmail.com
If you are a Vajrayogini practitioner but have not registered that classification with us, please email the date of your abhisheka, where, and by whom. We will be happy to add you to the list. That will also enable you to access sadhaka-level teachings on the Timeline, whether or not you can take this course. If you would like to take this course, include that in your email to us, click
STUDY MATERIAL FOR THE COURSE
The Indestructible Path: The Sadhana of the Coemergent Mother
Vajrayogini Tris and Teachings by Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin
with Dorje Loppön Lodrö Dorje.
If you are a sadhaka and interested in getting this book, please let us know and we will provide the link for purchase, click HERE jackiesaunders10@gmail.com. The Indestructible Path presents a clear and insightful explanation of the stages of the profound path, including both Tris and teachings.
PROFOUND TREASURY RETREAT
The Colorado Retreat: Everything is Connected
October 4 – 13, 2024
Drala Mountain Center, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado
The topic of this year’s retreat is the mandala principle. Mandalas present Buddhist teachings in the form of a circular diagram, as a dynamic and interconnected system. Mandala teachings encourage us to think more holistically and to relate to experience in terms of energies, systems, relationships, and patterns of interconnection. Mandalas display the intersecting webs of connection between all experiences and all beings. They help us to place our personal experiences within a broader context, a context in which every experience is welcomed and included.
Throughout the retreat, our focus will be on cultivating a direct visceral connection with the five basic elements—earth, water, fire, wind, and space— as a way to go more deeply into Buddhist teachings on working with emotions.
Complete liberation from extremes is the supreme king of views.
Boundless deep spaciousness is the supreme king of meditation.
Freedom from bias and setting limits is the supreme king of conduct.
Remaining without hope is the supreme king of results.
Ganges Mahamudra,
Tilopa
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