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* All teachings will be at Ananda Dharma Center.

 

This is the first in a series of two classes in advance of Choden Rinpoche's Spring Teachings.

Geshe Norbu will discuss how one should listen to dharma teachings to gain the most benefit: how to adjust motivation, adopting the proper behavior, and the roles of teacher and student in spiritual teachings. He will conclude with a teaching on the essence of the Lam Rim.

This is the second in a series of two classes in advance of Choden Rinpoche's Spring Teachings.

This class will cover important points for one who wishes to or is thinking about entering the path of tantra. It will include a general presentation of the paths of Tantrayana and cover such topics as: Am I ready? What is involved?

Suitable for both those new to tantra and those who have already taken tantric intiations.

Geshe Norbu will lead a series of Meditation classes focused on the cultivation of stabilization meditation. For each class there will be brief instructions on how to meditate, followed by about 35 minutes of guided meditation aimed at stabilizing and focusing the mind. Class will end with a brief Q&A session. All are welcome to attend.

Geshe Norbu will lead two Sunday afternoon classes on analytical meditation on the Four Immeasurables. These are the cultivation of wholesome qualities of loving-kindness, compassion, equanimity and empathic joy, which overcome self-centered attitudes and increase a sense of closeness to all sentient beings.

Geshe Gyalten will give further commentary and instruction on the Yamantaka practice.

Yamantaka is the wrathful aspect of Manjushri and has the special quality of pacifying obstacles in the practitioner's path, namely untimely death and cutting through the ignorance of ego-grasping. Yamantaka's wrath is used to combat the forces of delusion and transform destructive forces into aids on the spiritual path.

This is an empowerment into Highest Yoga Tantra.

Initiates should have familiarity with and some experience of renunciation, bodhicitta, and correct view.

Geshe Gyalten will give further explanation on the practice of Tara the Liberator. All are welcome to attend.

There are many inner and outer obstacles on the path of developing your mind and engaging in dharma practice. All the actions of the buddhas have manifested in this female aspect of buddha, Tara the Liberator, in order to help beings accomplish temporal and ultimate happiness. Kyabje Choden Rinpoche will lead instruction on how to practice Tara the Liberator. All are welcome to attend.

A jenang is a blessing of the Body, Speech, and Mind of a particular Buddha and subsequent permission to practice. There are many temporal and ultimate benefits associated with the devotional prayer of the Twenty-One Taras. All are welcome to attend, this jenang can be taken as a blessing.

Geshe Gyalten will lead an explanation and meditation to supplement the sessions on Wisdom and Compassion and Mantra Practice taught by Rinpoche.

Kyabje Choden Rinpoche will conduct ceremonies for students to take Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows. It is not mandatory to undertake both sets of vows, and students may take the opportunity to renew existing vows.

Oral transmission of the mantras of Shakyamuni Buddha, Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Medicine Buddha, Amitabha, Amitayus, Hayagriva, Garuda, Vajrapani etc. Teachings on the power and benefit of ancient Sanskrit mantras. How to practice mantras for purification and spiritual development. All are welcome to attend.

An awareness and understanding of the nature of reality and the interdependency of phenomena helps give rise to an experience of universal compassion. Cultivating these insights leads to a deepening of kindness and compassion in one's daily life. This session will focus on how these principles are understood and practiced in the Sutrayana and Tantrayana traditions. All are welcome to attend.

Calm abiding is the basis of sutra and tantra, and it is essential for the realization of renunciation, Bodhichitta, special insight, true clairvoyance and miracle powers. The class will start Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 p.m.

The Precious Garland is advice that was offered to a king on how to conduct life and social policy with Buddhist ideals. Geshe Ngawang Norbu will teach this class. Kyabje Choden Rinpoche says that Geshe Ngawang Norbu has mastered the subject of emptiness. This will be an ongoing class on Saturdays. All are welcome to attend.

Ananda Dharma Center will hold a Medicine Buddha Puja every Tuesday night (except when Lama Chopa falls on Tuesdays) starting 8/4 at 7:00 p.m. Come join us for this powerful offering to the Buddha of Healing. All are welcome to attend.

Every month on the 10th & 25th of the lunar calendar we offer Guru Puja & Tsog. Tsog is a commitment for the mother tantra and for all who were initiated into Vajrayogini by Kyabje Choden Rinpoche. Please bring offerings to share.

Geshe Norbu will teach lam rim, the complete and profound stages of the path to enlightenment. Lam rim is the indispensable method for anyone who wishes to understand and practice Tibetan Buddhism. This will be an ongoing class on Sundays. All are welcome to attend.

Learn Buddhist meditation techniques to discover your source of inner peace and happiness by making your mind calmer and clearer through the force of Single-pointed Meditation and Analytical Meditation. Step-by-step guided meditation and yoga instruction will start with Breathing Meditation and Nine-point Breathing Yoga Technique.

Geshe Gyalten will teach the meaning of consecration, how to treat consecrated holy objects and how to put the holy objects on the alter. Class will be Sunday, August 2 from 10:00am to about 11:00 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

Kyabje Choden Rinpoche will give the oral transmission of the Heart Sutra just prior to the Chenrezig Jenang. The Heart Sutra is the most succinct of the Prajna Paramita Sutras. It contains the essence of the Buddha's teachings on emptiness.

Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit) is the embodiment of the compassion of all of the Buddhas. Chenrezig belongs to the lotus family of action tantra. Chenrezig literally means loving or compassionate eye who uplifts the suffering of all sentient beings. Rinpoche will bestow the Four-Armed Chenrezig Jenang. A Jenang is a subsequent permission to use the mantra and practice the sadhana. Please observe the dietary restrictions of no animal flesh, eggs, onions, garlic or radish prior to the jenang.

This is a rare and precious opportunity to experience a 1 day, 2 session mani retreat with the meditation master and yogi Kyabje Choden Rinpoche. Reciting the six syllable mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM, with heartfelt respect and the altruistic motivation has infinite benefits. Among these are obtaining higher migrations in future rebirths, the removal of the suffering of all beings and taking rebirth in a Pure Land. Reciting the mani mantra is equivalent to reciting the names of all of the Buddhas. Please observe the dietary restrictions of no animal flesh, eggs, onions, garlic or radish prior to the jenang.

All the essential points of the stages of secret mantra are included within the practice of Vajrayogini. Vajrayogini is a “Sarva-Buddha-dakini” the dakini who is the Essence of all Buddhas. She is one of the meditational deities of mother tantra, the principle source explaining the method for generating the blissful clear light. Vajrayogini is the female embodiment of the wisdom of the inseparability of great bliss and emptiness. One of the special features of her path is that it contains methods for practicing the generation and completion stages of highest yoga tantra simultaneously.

Rinpoche will explain the short sadhana that is the commitment for the empowerment. Please note that the recordings of these precious teachings will only be made available to those who attended the teachings.

Rinpoche will conduct a consecration ceremony for the beautiful new statues for our alter. You may bring your own pre-filled statues for consecration. More details will follow.

Geshe Gyalten will give instruction on how to complete the Vajrayogini approximation retreat. This will be a commuter retreat.

Jorcho are the practices which prepare the practitioner for their meditation sessions. Geshe-la will discuss these six practices of preparing the alter, arranging offerings, posture and setting motivation, visualizing the merit field and offering the seven-limb practice.

Bodhicitta is the supreme wish to become fully enlightened in order to benefit all sentient  beings. Please join Geshe-la in the discussion of developing both conventional and ultimate Bodhicitta.

 

 

What does it mean to take refuge in the Three Jewels? Please join Geshe-la in an in depth discussion of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and why we take refuge in them. All are welcome.

 

The tenet system is used to teach Buddhist philosophy in a systematic fashion. The four schools can be seen as a gradual path leading to more complex and subtle views on emptiness of self and phenomena. This class gives a brief overview of the assertions of each school on mind, objects, selflessness and the ultimate nature of reality.

 

Lama Tsongkhapa summarized the entire path to enlightenment in his poem The Three Principles of the Path. The three principles are the need for a determination to be free, the need to develop altruism and insight into the true nature of reality. These three are essential for a practitioner to develop in order to follow the Mahayana path. Geshe Ngawang Norbu will lead discussion and meditation on these three principles. This is a four session, one day retreat. The retreat schedule is:

session 1: 6:00 a.m. to 8 a.m.
breakfast break: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
session 2: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
lunch: 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
session 3: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
tea break: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
session 4: 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP so we can plan for the food.

Anger and attachment are rooted in the ignorance of a concrete, permanent self or ego. Geshe Gyalten will teach how to reduce and eventually eliminate these negative states of mind which leads to an open heart of compassion for all beings

 

Geshe Gyalten will lead us in this simple yet deeply profound method to realize the nature of our mind. Mahamudra Meditation, the Great Seal (the quintessential teaching and meditation of the Buddha) is a step by step meditation practice on the mind through both Sutra and Tantra to bring about inner peace and satisfaction.

 

Classes from August 2 through September 13 will present this practice through Sutra and have no prerequisite.

 

Classes from September 16 through October 7 require a Highest Yoga Tantra empowerment to attend.

Pre-requisite: Any Heruka or Chakrasamvara Empowerment

Geshe Gyalten will teach an extensive explanation of the Three Purifications of Shri Heruka. This is the commitment for the Heruka Body Mandala empowerment and may be practiced by anyone who has received any Heruka empowerment. This class is 6 weeks, from Tuesday, August 5 through Sep 9 at 7:00 p.m.