2016
UK Tour
Bath
Jamyang Bath Buddhist Group
January 15, 7:30 – 9:00pm, Life as Practice (all levels)
January 16 and 17, 10:00am – 4:00pm, Developing the Good Heart
This weekend examines “cherishing others more than oneself” and methods for developing bodhichitta, the enlightened attitude. The profound meditation of tonglen (giving and taking) will be taught as a unique process to fully open the heart. Good for those with some Buddhist background.
Corsham, Wiltshire
Lam Rim (Wilts. & Glos.) Buddhists
Love, Attachment and Creating Healthy Relationships (all levels)
January 18, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Somerset (Yeovil)
Saraswati Buddhist Group
Transforming Problems into Happiness (all levels)
This talk identifies unbalanced situations and states of mind (anger, attachment, pride, jealousy, depression, anxiety, fear, etc.) and explores a variety of healthy coping mechanisms that can help transform everyday challenges into a more realistic and peaceful experience.
January 20, 8pm
Salisbury
Jamyang Salisbury Study Group
Meditation, Mindfulness and Making Life Meaningful (all levels)
January 23 and 24
London
Jamyang Buddhist Centre
What Goes Around Comes Around: How Karma Works (all levels)
January 28, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Leeds
Jamyang Buddhist Centre
A Practical Guide to Finding Happiness (all levels)
January 29, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Liverpool
Jamyang Liverpool
What’s Love Got to Do With It? (all levels)
(A look at love, attachment, relationships and how to develop the good heart.)
January 30 and 31
Cumbria
Yeshe Study Group
Death and Rebirth
(Explore a more expansive view of this natural transition and how it is possible to face death with peace, dignity and no regrets. Discussion and meditation included along with practical applications for caregivers. Open to all levels of students, hospice workers, and caregivers.)
Contact: yeshebuddhists@live.com
February 6 and 7
USA
First US Teachings in 2016!
Philadelphia area (Springfield)
Springfield Healthplex
Love, Attachment and Creating Healthy Relationships
Don’t think Valentine’s Day is only one day a year!
Enjoy this practical presentation of how to make every day filled with love and presence to create meaning in all of your relationships. Open to all levels.
February 17, 7:30 – 8:45pm
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Swarthmore Buddhadharma Group
Chapter 6: Patience from Master Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara)
February 23, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Philadelphia area (Havertown)
The Philadelphia Meditation Center
Waking Up to What Is: Karma and Emptiness in Everyday Life
If you’ve ever wondered why bad things happen to good people or would like to stop suffering and create a more positive reality, this program offers some interesting explanations. Explore the process of familiarizing yourself with new habits and short circuit unhealthy behaviors and views that prevent you from being happier and more peaceful.
Open to all levels; come for all or part.
February 26, 7:30 – 9:00pm
February 27, 10:00am – 12:30pm and 1:30 – 4:00pm
New York
Shantideva Meditation Center
Tibet House
March 4, 7 – 9pm: Life as Practice
March 5 and 6, 10am – 5pm: Touching Reality: Meditation, Mindfulness and a Meaningful Life
Imagine what it would be like to live each and every single moment of our life as an opportunity to develop calm, kindness, and insight. Teachings, short meditations, exercises, discussion, and Q&A. Appropriate for those new to Buddhism as well as for experienced students wishing to deepen or rejuvenate an already existing practice.
Philadelphia Area (Drexel Hill)
Sojourn Yoga
What Goes Around, Comes Around: How Karma Works
March 9, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Why do bad things happen to good people? Explore the workings of karma and how you can create a more peaceful and happier life. Open to all levels.
Boston Area (Medford, Massachusetts)
Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies
March 19 – 24 These programs are open to all levels of students.
March 19, 10:00am – 5:00pm Awakening Mindfulness: The Importance of Meditation and How to Practice Calm Abiding (Shinay)
Meditation is not only useful to develop more mindfulness in daily life, but essential if one wants to have a direct perception of emptiness. By developing the “yogi/yogini mind” we can learn to “short circuit” unhealthy patterns while enhancing positive ones. Learn more about how to meditate or enhance an already existing practice. Explanation of shine practice and sessions to build concentration will be included, as well as mindfulness techniques and other support to get you onto your cushion in a rich, consistent way.
March 20, 1:00 – 5:00pm Get Real: The Wisdom Realizing Emptiness and How It Creates a Happier, More Peaceful Life
Everything you’ve always wanted to know about emptiness, but were afraid to ask!
March 22, 7:00 – 9:00pm The Truth about Tantra: Breaking through the Myth and Understanding Initiations, Practice, and How It Shortcuts Our Path to Enlightenment
For those who have taken tantric initiation and those who have not, this insightful evening will unravel misconceptions about tantric practice and explain why it’s the quickest way to ultimate freedom.
March 24, 7:00 – 9:00pm Transforming Anger, Depression and Anxiety
Are you interested in creating more harmony on the planet? Don’t miss this evening of meditation, practical techniques, and exercises to conquer major delusions in the mind.
Philadelphia area (Springfield)
Springfield Healthplex
Dealing with Difficult People
March 28, 7:30 – 8:45pm
Aren’t you tired of having challenging people turn up in your life? Why are they there and how can we make them go away? This lively evening presents an alternative view on the presence of these people and how we can best transform negative experiences into more positive ones. Open to all levels.
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Swarthmore Buddhadharma Group
Chapter 5: Vigilance from Master Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara)
March 29, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Taming the mind from the foremost book of practicing the path to true happiness.
South Florida (Deerfield Beach)
Tubten Kunga Center
April 2 – 20
A variety of programs on Meditation, Lojong (Mind training), Developing the Good Heart, Countering with Negative Emotions, Dealing with Attachment, and Emptiness. See center website for details.
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Swarthmore Buddhadharma Group
Chapter 6 continued: Patience from Master Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara)
April 26, 7:30 – 9:00pm
The perfect support for facing anger and fear in challenging times. Open to all levels.
Washington, DC Area (Fairfax, Virginia)
Guyhasamaja Center
Living Confidently, Dying Peacefully:
Tibetan Buddhist Perspectives on Life, Death, and Rebirth
April 30, 10:30am – 4:30pm
A helpful guide to facing life’s ultimate transition while exploring the Tibetan Buddhist perspective on how we take rebirth. Practical applications of caring for loved ones, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, included. Open to all levels.
Philadelphia Area (Drexel Hill)
Sojourn Yoga
Meditation, Mindfulness and Making Life Meaningful
May 4, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Appropriate for all levels, this practical talk explores how to get the most out of everyday experiences and find a deeper focus to enhance a life’s practice.
Buffalo, New York Area
Buffalo Dharma
Appreciating Our Human Lives and Death and Dying Workshop
A Friday evening talk on the practice of self-compassion as a means to more fully appreciate our lives along with a Saturday daylong workshop on how best to face life’s ultimate transition. Appropriate for all levels.
May 6, 7 – 8:30pm: Appreciating Our Human Lives
May 7, 9am – 4:30pm: Death and Dying Workshop
New York Area
Shantideva Meditation Center
The Big Bliss: Lam Rim Meditation Retreat
at Garrison Institute, Garrison, New York
Second Annual Retreat. We loved it last year so the thought is to make it happen every year. Limited to 35 people this year. Totally life inspiring. Open to all levels although having some background in Buddhism a great help.
May 13 – 15
Williamsville, Vermont
Thosum Gepelling Institute
Dealing with Difficult People
Explore the richness of Lojong (Tibetan Mind Training) practice along with meditations and techniques to transform negative experiences as we find ways to welcome challenging people into our hearts and lives. Open to all levels.
May 22, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Grafton, Vermont
Contact: Sally Warren at swarl@vermontel.net
The Perfection of Patience
A look at the Six Perfections (Paramitas) on the path to awakening with particular focus on Patience. Open to all levels.
May 24, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Raleigh, North Carolina
Kadampa Center
Get Real: The Wisdom Realizing Emptiness and How It Creates a Happier, More Peaceful Life
June 3, 7 – 8:30pm
June 4, 10am – 3:30pm
June 5, 10:30am – 12noon, General Talk
June 5, 1:30 – 3:30pm
Our experiences of holding ourselves as solid, unchanging, and independent are inevitably threatened by daily life. Explore the profound Buddhist topic of emptiness, a lack of this inherent nature, and begin to dismantle the web of mistaken perception that keeps us suffering. Open to all levels although helpful to have some beginning understanding of Buddhism.
Philadelphia area (Havertown)
The Philadelphia Meditation Center
Meditation, Mindfulness and Making Life Meaningful
Bring more calm and joy to your life with a consistent meditation practice; discover resources within you that lend to more mindful approaches to everyday living. Meditation instruction and practice will be offered along with insightful techniques for de-stressing and inviting more gratitude and compassion into your life. Newcomers welcome and also more experienced students who would like to breathe some life into their practices. Come for all or part.
June 10, 7:30 – 9:00pm
June 11, 10:00am – 12:30pm and 1:30 – 4:00pm
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Swarthmore Buddhadharma Group
Chapter 9: Wisdom from Master Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara)
June 14, 7:30 – 9:00pm
What cuts the root of all of our suffering from the foremost book of practicing the path to true happiness. Some background in Buddhism helpful.
Philadelphia Area (Drexel Hill)
Sojourn Yoga
The Essence of Kindness: Practicing Compassion and Developing the Good Heart
June 15, 7:30 – 9:00pm
How do we really cultivate compassion in a world that challenges us daily with some very unbalanced people and scenarios? Explore practical methods and meditations not only to face these challenges, but to keep the heart open toward oneself and others in the face of pain and misunderstanding. Open to all levels.
San Francisco, California
Tse Chen Ling Center
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Love, Desire and Enjoying Meaningful Relationships
July 7, 7 – 9pm
“Love” and “attachment” are often confused creating conflict in our relationships, particularly the most intimate ones. If we can lessen attachment, grasping, and control and more fully appreciate all of the goodness in our lives, experiences of genuine love and freedom organically arise. Open to students of all levels.
Transforming Negative Emotions:
Coping with Anxiety and Depression
July 9, 10am – 3pm
The desire for happiness serves as a major motivation in our lives, yet we often experience numerous obstacles to achieving it. Despite our material comforts and beneficial circumstances, frustration, fear, anxiety, depression, along with other less than generous mind states, cloud our view. This workshop identifies afflictive states of mind (anger, attachment, pride, jealousy, depression, anxiety, fear, etc.) and explores a variety of healthy coping mechanisms that can transform everyday challenges into a more realistic and peaceful experience. Open to students of all levels.
Campbell, California
Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center
Dealing with Difficult People
July 11, 7 – 9pm
Aren’t you tired of having challenging people turn up in your life? Why are they there and how can we make them go away? This lively evening presents an alternative view on the presence of these people and how we can best transform a negative experience into a more positive one. Meditation and practical exercises included. All levels.
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Swarthmore Buddhadharma Group
How Karma Works
September 13, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Explore the meaning of this word that is often bantered around, yet misunderstood. Learn the essential facts about the law of cause and effect. Explore more effective ways to gain better control over your life and, therefore, create a brighter future. Open to all levels.
Toronto area (Burlington, ON, Canada)
Lama Yeshe Ling
Getting Relationships Right: Taking Heart with Compassion and Loving Kindness
September 16, 7 – 9pm
September 17 and 18, 10am – 4pm
Relationships are vital to our well being. The deepest and most reliable way to improve our relationships with others, and become happier and more content, is by improving our relationship with ourselves. Through understanding and working with our own minds, we can find a realistic place of compassion and caring first for ourselves, and can then learn to extend it to those around us. Venerable Amy Miller is as familiar with the ups and downs of relationship as much as anyone. She has decades of experience using life’s wisdom to practice self-compassion and loving kindness and then move those expressions out to those she encounters. Join us in an experiential exploration of these methods that can dismantle unhealthy habits in our minds and lives that prevent us from waking up to who we really are. Learn how to nurture the relationship with yourself in order to create powerful positive improvements in your relationship with others.
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Swarthmore Buddhadharma Group
The Chains that Bind You: The 12 Links of Dependent Arising
September 20, 7:30 – 9:00pm
The Buddha expressed the 12 Links of Dependent Arising very simply: “This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not.” In Buddhism, one way to understand the suffering nature of samsara is to read, study, and understand this profound teaching and meditate on the gradual evolution of the twelve links. While suffering is not a topic in which most people are at all interested, yet by understanding how you suffer and what makes you suffer, you are then able to dismantle the root mechanism that causes it. The 12 Links are fundamental in this process. Join us and explore how this philosophy can impact your own life. Open to all levels.
New York City (Tibet House)
Shantideva Meditation Center
The Source of Lasting Happiness: The Art of Meditation and How to Develop the Fully Awakened Heart
September 30, Public Talk, 7 – 9pm
October 1 and 2, 10am – 5pm
The 8th chapter of Master Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life is a critical chapter that explains the significance of meditative absorption and how to get there, and then lays out his secret technique to open the heart to infinite kindness and compassion. This weekend explores this radical approach to developing compassion and explains how its very essence is not only your path to a deep sense of happiness and fulfillment, but the journey to full awakening. Tonglen (Giving and Taking) meditation included along with discussion and Q&A. Open to all levels although some Buddhist background helpful.
Philadelphia Area (Paoli)
Purenergy Yoga
The Essence of Kindness: Practicing Compassion and Developing the Good Heart
October 8, 12 – 2pm
How do we really cultivate compassion in a world that challenges us daily with some very unbalanced people and scenarios? Explore practical methods and meditations not only to face these challenges, but to keep the heart open toward oneself and others in the face of pain and misunderstanding. Open to all levels.
New York
Shantideva Meditation Center
Venue: Jewel Heart Center, 260 West Broadway, New York, NY
Meditation Evening
October 11, 7 – 8:30pm
This meditation series provides tools to rewire our minds, developing gratitude for our infinite potential. According to science, gratitude is a powerful boost to happiness and health, and according to Buddhism, it’s tremendous fuel for our spiritual practice. Also included are advice and techniques to use between sessions. Great to attend the entire series, but perfectly fine to attend individual sessions. All levels. $10.
Philadelphia area (Springfield)
Springfield Healthplex
The Art of Self-Compassion
This lively workshop will help in growing your wisdom and setting healthy boundaries in life. Some brief meditation and practical techniques will be explored not only to help face your every day challenges, but to keep the heart open toward oneself and others in the busyness of daily life. Open to all levels.
October 18, 7:30 – 8:45pm
CANCELLED
Philadelphia area (Rosemont)
New Leaf Club
Women’s Empowerment Group
A new launch of a weekly women’s group. Sessions will include 20 minutes of yoga, 20 minutes of meditation, followed by a discussion on a variety of relevant topics. New Leaf Club is being rented as the venue so the event is not listed in their calendar, but feel free to visit their site for address. All women are welcome to attend. Wear comfortable clothing to move and sit in and yoga mat if you have. By donation.
October 19, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Washington, DC Area (Fairfax, Virginia)
Guyhasamaja Center
Meditation, Mindfulness and Making Life Meaningful
October 22, 10:30am – 4:30pm
Bring more calm and joy to your life with a consistent meditation practice; discover resources within you that lend to more mindful approaches to everyday living. Meditation instruction and practice will be offered along with insightful techniques for de-stressing and inviting more gratitude and compassion into your life. Open to all levels.
South Florida (Miami Beach)
Namdrol Ling Study Group
October 25, Dealing with Difficult People
November 1, Transforming Depression and Anxiety
November 8, Meditation, Mindfulness, and Making Life Meaningful
Three evening sessions in a live-streaming Skype format.
7:30 – 9:30pm
Philadelphia area (Swarthmore)
Strath Haven High School, World Religions Classes
Buddhist Overview and Meditation
November 2, 12:30 – 2:00pm
Mexico
Guadalajara
Khamlungpa Center
November 18 – 23
Aguascalientes
Bengungyal Center
Contact: centrodemeditacionbengungyal@gmail.com
November 25 – 28
Torrean/Durango
Rinchen Zangpo Center
Padmasambhava Study Group (contact: budismo.dgo@gmail.com)
November 30 – December 9