IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
The summer of 2023 was a distinctive time for The Wisdom Seat: our Authentic Presence Retreat at the Drala Mountain Center in Colorado was fresh, rigorous and well attended; Anam Thubten’s retreat at Pawo Khandro Ling was sold out and celebrated by a joyful, elegant reception; our Nynthuns and Wednesday night practice sessions are enjoying growing attendance and more TWS sponsored practitioners graduated from the Dharma Moon meditation teacher training. And the fall promises more wisdom and good cheer with the visit of Rabjam Rinpoche to North America.
We were honored to host Anam Thubten for a weekend of activities in September.
You can watch Rinpoche’s public talk and see some photos on this page: www.thewisdomseat.org/post/anam-thubten-2023
With gratitude to all of those in The Wisdom Seat and beyond for making all this possible and for nourishing our inspiring Buddhist community.
Michael Carroll, Rabjam Rinpoche and Matt DiRodio in New York.
21st Bodhi: Leading the joyful life of a Bodhisattva
Taught by Michael Carroll and Matt DiRodio
For centuries, millions of women and men have lived the life of a bodhisattva, traveling a spiritual path marked by joy, compassion, and vast wisdom. And for hundreds of generations, they inspired the best in others, passed down what they learned and celebrated their tradition. Today, in this remarkable, brilliant and confounding 21st century, such inspiration flourishes to live the noble life of a Bodhisattva.
During this 10-session program we will:
Explore the tradition of the bodhisattva and consider how it can unfold in our everyday lives. Learn and practice the fundamental gesture of a bodhisattva: formless meditation. Share among others our experiences in traveling the bodhisattva path.
Description:
We will once again use the Tuesday/Wednesday format, where Tuesday is dedicated to study and Wednesday meditation, readings will be selected pertaining to the Tuesday night class. Please note this class format will meet on alternating weeks.
Starting:
Jan 9/10, Jan 23/24, Feb 6/7, Feb 20/21, March 5/6
Time:
Tuesday 6:15-8:30 PM EST, Wednesday 6:15-7:30 PM EST
21st Bodhi January – March 2024
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.
For 2023, we have changed the nyinthun registration site, so that you sign up for each nyinthun retreat day individually. This replaces the old way of just joining a nyinthun email list and receiving a monthly reminder.
This will help greatly by knowing how many people are actually coming to any given nyinthun, so we can arrange the shrine room to accommodate in person attendees, and plan for online attendees. 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.
Westchester Meditation Center
Humbleness and Heroism on the Path of Wakefulness, The Way of the Bodhisattva/RINGU TULKU
Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 7-9 PM
at The Aligned Center, One Bridge Street, Suite 64, Irvington, NY
Public Talk
WMC 2024 Annual Weeklong Meditation Retreat
Heart Essence of Meditation: Essential Points of Practice
We invite you to join us for this special occasion -- Judy Lief will join us in leading this retreat! The main focus of this retreat will be on mindfulness-awareness (shamatha-vipashyana) meditation and is appropriate for practitioners at all levels. We will explore the simple practice of sitting and connecting to the earth, our bodies and our experience; contemplate the pithy meditation instructions of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche such as mixing mind with space, not too tight, not too loose, and touch and go; and appreciate the silence, nature, space, and welcoming environment of Garrison Institute.
Additionally, there will be a separate track for vajrayana practitioners.
January 19 to 26, 2024
Garrison Institute
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
October 13 - 15, 2023 Enlightened Courage: Vital Instructions for the Cultivation of Awakened Heart Weekend Wisdom Intensive. Open to the public. Live Online & In-Person. Sponsored by Naropa University and Ri-mé Society.
Venue: Nalanda Events Center, Naropa University.
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to: Rabjam Rinpoche Info and Tickets www.naropa.edu/academics/extended-campus/rabjam-rinpoche/
October 20, 2023 Vajrakilaya Abhisheka (7pm) and Gesar Entrustment (3pm). Restricted to Vajrayana students only. (For requirements, see below). This is a separate event being hosted by the Boulder Shambhala Center, so all inquiries should be directed to the Boulder Shambhala Center . For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to: Vajrakilaya & Gesar https://boulder.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=658254
October 21, 2023 Sadhana of Mahamudra Abhisheka 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM MT. Public Empowerment. In-person only. Open to all.Sponsored by Naropa University and Ri-mé Society. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to: Rabjam Rinpoche Info & Tickets October 22, 2023
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM MT Guhyagarbha and White Manjushri Abhishekas In-Person Only. Open to Vajrayana students only (see requirements below). Sponsored by Naropa University and Ri-mé Society. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to: Rabjam Rinpoche Info and Tickets
Pema Kilaya
FALL 2023 DZOGCHEN RETREAT
Online and In-Person
Dza Kilung Rinpoche will be teaching on the Chöying Dzod: The Basic Space of Phenomena
by Longchen Rabjam
October 28 - November 3, 2023
This is the 3rd retreat in this series of teachings on the Chöying Dzod.
Practitioners who did not have the opportunity to attend the previous teachings are warmly welcome to join.
Registration closes on October 21th.
Yeshe Long Buddhist Center, Clinton, WA
Zoom link sent after registering.
Retreat fees
Sangha: $350
Non-Sangha: $400
Scholarship tuition available with registration.
Katog Choling
Live Webcast Teaching
The Bodhisattva’s Garland of Jewels
by Atisha Dipamkara Shrijñana
Khentrul Rinpoche has chosen to teach on these profound instructions for the 2023 Annual Pandey Norbu Shedra. This text illuminates the path of how realized beings accomplish true and ultimately meaningful benefit for both themselves and others. It is a distillation of the direct experience of how such great masters of the past used their body, speech, and mind to tame their own mindstream and achieve the means to benefit others. Each verse is like a priceless garland of jewels, which form an immense treasury of tools that are particularly relevant to the circumstances, times, thoughts, and actions of the world today.
Three Consecutive Weekends
November 4 – 5, 11:00am – 1:00pm and 3:00pm – 5:00pm
November 11 – 12, 11:00am – 1:00pm and 3:00pm – 5:00pm
November 18 – 19, 11:00am – 1:00pm and 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Timezone: Central Time
Due to this profound topic, Rinpoche requests full live attendance for all sessions on all days to participate in these teachings. If you cannot reschedule something and must miss even one live session, advance permission is required to participate in this multi-weekend event. To make a request, please email courses@katog.org.
Drala Mountain Center
Sadhana Mahamudra Intensive
December 1-8 2023
Drala Mountain Center
Practicing the Sadhana of Mahamudra is a journey into the wisdom of our lineage ancestors inseparable from our own, and of cutting through the materialistic forces which impede that. The main figures are Dorje Trolö and Karma Pakshi inseparably, who also express the union of the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages Trungpa Rinpoche held and taught.
During this practice intensive, we will practice the sadhana multiple times a day, as well as formless meditation inspired by it, morning and evening chants. We’ll also have talks on the sadhana, study of Trungpa Rinpoche’s transcripts of teachings, group discussions, and more.
This practice intensive is appropriate for established meditation practitioners in Trungpa Rinpoche’s teachings from any community based on them or with any of his authorized lineage holders, or for established Vajrayana practitioners from any lineage who are interested in this practice. This context and background is essential for the practice. If you’re seeking an introduction to meditation or Buddhism, we warmly welcome you to our Path of Meditation programs, and/or encourage you to explore a local community in your area. If you have questions about whether this intensive is the right fit or not, please feel free to reach out to Loden at loden@dralamountain.org
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: REGISTER BY 9/30/23 AND SAVE 25% ON LODGING ONLY* WITH PROMO CODE: SOM25
Three Yana Society
Entering the Vajra World: A Three-Yana Retreat
July 19, 2024 to August 18, 2024
Drala Mountain Center
Next summer’s retreat is designed for students with a solid foundation in Buddhism, and the preparation, aspiration and commitment to become vajrayana practitioners trained in Trungpa Rinpoche’s inimitable style. The retreat will be led by senior teachers who were trained by the Vidyadhara and supported by a new generation of instructors committed to the propagation and preservation of these teachings.
The retreat will integrate training in all three yanas and include the opportunity to receive vajrayana transmission and begin ngondro practice within the retreat.
Drala Mountain Center is generously offering a 50% discount on lodging for the program; faculty and staff have waived honorariums; and there is no additional charge for tuition.
"This variety of desirous and hateful thoughts
that strands us in the ocean of cyclic existence
once realized to be without intrinsic nature,
makes everything a golden land, child.
If you meditate on the illusion-like nature
of illusion-like phenomena,
actual illusion-like buddhahood
will occur through the power of devotion." – Niguma
From the book "Niguma, Lady of Illusion"
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