Buddhist Studies Institute

Vajrayogini Retreat with

Pema Khandro & Drupon Rinchen Dorjee

May 3 -May 5, 2024

Online
9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Only 10 days left to register!

Join us for this special event, the Vajrayogini Empowerment, an initiation into the inner tantra practice of generation stage meditation ~ led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Lama Pema Khandro. Vajrayogini is the female buddha embodying radical presence. To practice Vajrayogini meditation is to cut through to innermost wisdom and innate clarity.

This exceptional program will feature three half-days of instructions, empowerment and meditations of Vajrayogini. It will be led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche who will give the empowerment and Lama Pema Khandro who will give the instructions for practice.

Pre-requisites: This event is open to the public. In order to practice the generation stage Vajrayogini meditation, Drupon Rinpoche requires that one must have completed the ngondro, or preliminary practices, of Vajrayana first. One may, however, receive the empowerment and teachings before completing ngondro to receive the blessing and prepare for later practice. To do the practice, one has to have completed ngondro. However, the first two practices  may be engaged regardless of having completed ngondro or not.

Laughter of the Dakini’s Chod Retreat

with Pema Khandro

Online & at Dakini Mountain (for members)*
May 31 – June 2, 2024

Online Schedule

9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT
*In-Person schedule differs and is located on the registration page linked below

Laughter of the Dakini’s Chod is a profound method of psychological transformation in esoteric Buddhism.  Chod is a class of meditation that points to the fearless transformation available when trusting our own innate wisdom. The practice opens a space beyond concepts that allows the inner knowing to emerge.Chod means cutting, referring to cutting through fictions to authentic presence. This cutting is not aggressive, yet it is assertive, wise and commanding, drawing from a place in being where one is capable of cutting what needs to be cut to move compassionately beyond self deception.

Morning sessions will begin with practicing the Black Dakini, the profound deity yoga meditation on the black wrathful dakini from the Jeweled Garland of Chod, (the Rinchen Trengwa) that was practiced by the first Pema Khandro and passed down from fourteenth century Tibet. This practice culminates in the generation of one’s own inner wisdom as the Black Fierce Dakini, Troma Nagmo.

*In-Person & Online:
This will be a hybrid event with large group teaching sessions broadcast online. Tsok, Chod dances and Secret Chod small group sessions will be for in-person participants only. Everything else will be available for the online group. Only students who have been accepted to the Vajra Sangha, and members, are invited to attend in person. Space is limited to the first 30 to register. The In-Person Schedule varies and can be found on the registration page linked below.

Access all the Chod Resources:
This retreat will include transmission and practice of all these methods and will include access to dozens of online self-paced videos on how to practice Chod. Watch the videos in advance to prepare for the retreat or watch them afterwards to continue your learning!

A Special Reunion:
The 2024 Chod retreat is a profound occasion of the sangha gathering in person at the glorious land of Dakini Mountain in the scenic Tahoe National Forest of Northern California. This retreat marks the special occasion of Saga Dawa, the birthday and enlightenment of the Buddha, the most auspicious time to practice together with spiritual community.

Choying Dzod Retreat : Treasury of Space

Online with Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro

June 28 – June 30, 2024

9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Khenpo Yeshi and Pema Khandro return for the next chapter of the Choying Dzod.

Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself,  is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.  It refers to the expanse of reality and pure experience of meaningfulness as the revelation of the ground of being.

The Treasury of Basic Space is a manual for meditation and liberation, as well as being a text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death. Read during dying, it offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.

The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of breakthrough meditation (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of sublime knowing.

Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.

Text to be studied: “The Precious Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena.” trns. Richard Barron

You’re Ready Enough

Pema Khandro for Lion’s Roar

“Every Tibetan Buddhist practice includes the bodhisattva vow to work for the benefit of others. However, the tradition is also full of assertions that we cannot benefit others unless we are wise and enlightened, lest our good intentions be misguided. So when, exactly, are we wise enough to help others? We all want to be better versions of ourselves, but when are we “better enough” to step up and act on a bodhisattva’s heroic intent?” asks Pema Khandro. Read the response in the full article by clicking below.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email volunteer@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 3 – May 5
Chod Retreat – May 31 – June 2

JUNE

Chod Retreat – May 31 – June 2

Choying Dzod Retreat – June 28 – 30
*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone

Buddhist Studies Institute

Ngondro Module 2 – Purifying the Mind

STARTS NEXT WEEK!

Ngondro Module 2 – Purifying the Mind

April 15, 2024 – June 24, 2024

Online – Mondays

6pm-7:30pm PT | 8pm-9:30pm ET |8am* AEST Sydney
*April 16 in Sydney

This module focuses on clearing karma. It is includes one of the most important practices of Buddhist tantra – Vajrasattva meditation. This includes a clearing of unprocessed experiences and past misdeeds through the meditation and making amends for wrong doing. Vajrasattva mantras and meditation are introduced and instructed.

Vajrayogini Retreat with

Pema Khandro & Drupon Rinchen Dorjee

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

May 3 -May 5, 2024

Online
9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Join us for this special event, the Vajrayogini Empowerment, an initiation into the inner tantra practice of generation stage meditation ~ led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Lama Pema Khandro. Vajrayogini is the female buddha embodying radical presence. To practice Vajrayogini meditation is to cut through to innermost wisdom and innate clarity.

This exceptional program will feature three half-days of instructions, empowerment and meditations of Vajrayogini. It will be led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche who will give the empowerment and Lama Pema Khandro who will give the instructions for practice.

Pre-requisites: This event is open to the public. In order to practice the generation stage Vajrayogini meditation, Drupon Rinpoche requires that one must have completed the ngondro, or preliminary practices, of Vajrayana first. One may, however, receive the empowerment and teachings before completing ngondro to receive the blessing and prepare for later practice. To do the practice, one has to have completed ngondro. However, the first two practices  may be engaged regardless of having completed ngondro or not.

LAUGHTER OF THE DAKINIS CHOD RETREAT
with Pema Khandro

Registration Open
May 31 – June 2, 2024
Online & In-Person

Online Timing: 9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT
In-Person Timing (PT): 9am – 5pm Fri  | 9am – 10pm Sat | 9am – 4pm Sun

This will be a hybrid event with large group teaching sessions broadcast online. Tsok, Chod dances and Secret Chod small group sessions will be for in-person participants only. Everything else will be available for the online group. Only students who have been accepted to the Vajra Sangha, and members, are invited to attend in person. Space is limited to the first 30 to register.

Chod is a class of meditation that points to the fearless transformation available when trusting our own innate wisdom. The practice opens a space beyond concepts that allows the inner knowing to emerge.

It is a practice of healing through love towards one’s own mind, through releasing the fictive self the dualism that caused the appearance of “other” dissolves and an expansive intelligence becomes available.

The Four Points of Letting Go in the Bardo

Pema Khandro for Lion’s Roar

“We are always experiencing successive births and deaths. We feel the death of loved ones most acutely—there is something radical about the change in our reality. We are not given options, there is no room for negotiation, and the situation cannot be rationalized away or covered up by pretense. There is a total rupture in our who-I-am-ness, and we are forced to undergo a great and difficult transformation,” says Pema Khandro.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email volunteer@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

APRIL

Ngondro Module 2 – April 15 – June 24

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 3-5
Chod Retreat – May 31 – June 2

JUNE

Chod Retreat – May 31 – June 2

Choying Dzod Retreat – June 28-30
*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone

Buddhist Studies Institute

Touching Earth: Buddhism & the Environment
with Pema Khandro & esteemed guests

Online – April 5-7, 2024
9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Re-imagine the world and a human being’s place in it through the perspective of twenty-five hundred years of Buddhism. Join Pema Khandro and esteemed scholars: Lama Willa, PhD; Debbie Kasper, PhD; & Devin Zuckerman, PhD candidate; to reconsider earth, the elements, nature and environment within a sense of interdependence, impermanence and an ethic of profound care.

Ngondro Module 2 – Purifying the Mind

April 15, 2024 – June 24, 2024

Online – Mondays

6pm-7:30pm PT | 8pm-9:30pm ET |8am* AEST Sydney
*April 16 in Sydney

This module focuses on clearing karma. It is includes one of the most important practices of Buddhist tantra – Vajrasattva meditation. This includes a clearing of unprocessed experiences and past misdeeds through the meditation and making amends for wrong doing. Vajrasattva mantras and meditation are introduced and instructed.

Vajrayogini Retreat with

Pema Khandro & Drupon Rinchen Dorjee

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

May 3 -May 5, 2024

Online
9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Join us for this special event, the Vajrayogini Empowerment, an initiation into the inner tantra practice of generation stage meditation ~ led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Lama Pema Khandro. Vajrayogini is the female buddha embodying radical presence. To practice Vajrayogini meditation is to cut through to innermost wisdom and innate clarity.

This exceptional program will feature three half-days of instructions, empowerment and meditations of Vajrayogini. It will be led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche who will give the empowerment and Lama Pema Khandro who will give the instructions for practice.

Pre-requisites: This event is open to the public. In order to practice the generation stage Vajrayogini meditation, Drupon Rinpoche requires that one must have completed the ngondro, or preliminary practices, of Vajrayana first. One may, however, receive the empowerment and teachings before completing ngondro to receive the blessing and prepare for later practice. To do the practice, one has to have completed ngondro. However, the first two practices  may be engaged regardless of having completed ngondro or not.

Happy Women’s History Month!
Forum: Hear Our Voices

by Pema Khandro for Lion’s Roar

A panel of women teachers from different Buddhist traditions share their insights into being a female teacher and leader in today’s world.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email volunteer@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

APRIL

Touching Earth: Buddhism and the Environment – April 5- April 7
Ngondro Module 2 – April 15 – June 24

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 3-5

JUNE

Choying Dzod Retreat – June 28-30
*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone

Buddhist Studies Institute

Touching Earth: Buddhism & the Environment
with Pema Khandro & esteemed guests

Online – April 5-7, 2024
9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT ENDS TODAY!

Re-imagine the world and a human being’s place in it through the perspective of twenty-five hundred years of Buddhism. Join Pema Khandro and esteemed scholars: Lama Willa, PhD; Debbie Kasper, PhD; & Devin Zuckerman, PhD candidate; to reconsider earth, the elements, nature and environment within a sense of interdependence, impermanence and an ethic of profound care.

Save the Date for these Upcoming Retreats with Pema Khandro

Buddhist Fasting Retreat – May 3-5, 2024

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 31 – June 2, 2024*

Online
9am – 12pm PT | 12pm – 3pm ET | 5pm – 8pm GMT
*Vajra Sangha invited to attend in person at Dakini Mountain all day

Happy Women’s History Month!

Praise to 21 Taras
with Pema Khandro & The Buddhist Studies Institute

Pema Khandro Rinpoche and members of the Buddhist Studies Institute share Praise to 21 Taras. Click the link below to watch on YouTube. Please consider liking and subscribing to the YouTube channel.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email volunteer@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

APRIL

Touching Earth: Buddhism and the Environment – April 5- April 7

MAY

Buddhist Fasting Retreat – May 3-5

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 31 – June 2

JUNE

Choying Dzod Retreat – June 28-30
*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone

Buddhist Studies Institute

The Freedom of Being: The Choying Dzod Retreat

Online with Khenpo Yeshi & Pema Khandro

February 23 – February 25

9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself,  is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.  It refers to the expanse of reality and pure experience of meaningfulness as the revelation of the ground of being.

The Treasury of Basic Space is a manual for meditation and liberation, as well as being a text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death. Read during dying, it offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.

The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of breakthrough meditation (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of sublime knowing.

Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.

Meditation Instructor Training 2024

Our Meditation Instructor Training is only offered once per year. Even though the course officially began yesterday, it is not too late! If you want to jump in before registration officially closes this week, please click the link below to learn more details and register.

3 Modules

Traditional Meditation

Teaching Practicum

Teaching Ethics

This training is a pre-requisite for the Chaplaincy Certificate offered summer of 2024.

Touching Earth: Buddhism & the Environment
with Pema Khandro & esteemed guests

Online – April 5-7, 2024
9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Re-imagine the world and a human being’s place in it through the perspective of twenty-five hundred years of Buddhism. Join Pema Khandro and esteemed scholars: Lama Willa, PhD; Debbie Kasper, PhD; & Devin Zuckerman, PhD candidate; to reconsider earth, the elements, nature and environment within a sense of interdependence, impermanence and an ethic of profound care.

Is the Guru Model Broken?
by Pema Khandro for Lion’s Roar

Pema Khandro Rinpoche, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Rigzin Drolma, and Lobsang Rapgay discuss the guru model in the Tibetan tradition, in which the teacher is central to the path.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email volunteer@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

FEBRUARY

Meditation Instructor Training – February 19 – August 9
Choying Dzod: The Freedom of Being – February 23- 25

APRIL

Touching Earth: Buddhism and the Environment – April 5- April 7

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 31 – June 2

*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone

Buddhist Studies Institute

Meditation Instructor Training 2024

February 19 – August 5

Are you stuck in a cycle of doom scrolling and hopelessness? Though we live in a complex and challenging world, we don’t have to be swept away by every thought or emotion that arises in our mind. There’s another, more wakeful way of being. Let this be the year you take back your awareness and befriend your own mind.

Join our 2024 Meditation Instructor Training and steep yourself in the power of Buddhist meditation, philosophy and ethics. Led by internationally renowned Buddhist scholar and teacher Pema Khandro, this updated course offers self-paced curriculum, live interactive classes, weekly mentoring and a community of fellow instructors engaging in the path in the deep way. Not only will you strengthen your own wakeful mind through these esoteric and potent practices, you’ll also be able to bring that radiant awareness to others through teaching within your personal community and the world at large. Give the gift that keeps on giving and join us today!

The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives.

3 Modules

Traditional Meditation

Teaching Practicum

Teaching Ethics

This training is a pre-requisite for the Chaplaincy Certificate offered summer of 2024.

The Freedom of Being: The Choying Dzod Retreat

Online with Khenpo Yeshi & Pema Khandro

February 23 – February 25

9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself,  is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.  It refers to the expanse of reality and pure experience of meaningfulness as the revelation of the ground of being.

The Treasury of Basic Space is a manual for meditation and liberation, as well as being a text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death. Read during dying, it offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.

The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of breakthrough meditation (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of sublime knowing.

Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.

Touching Earth: Buddhism & the Environment
with Pema Khandro & esteemed guests

Online – April 5-7, 2024
9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Re-imagine the world and a human being’s place in it through the perspective of twenty-five hundred years of Buddhism. Join Pema Khandro and esteemed scholars: Lama Willa, PhD; Debbie Kasper, PhD; & Devin Zuckerman, PhD candidate; to reconsider earth, the elements, nature and environment within a sense of interdependence, impermanence and an ethic of profound care.

Be Kind to Yourself
by Pema Khandro for Lion’s Roar

“When people talk about daily practice, they usually mean doing silent meditation, a ritual, or mantra recitation. These are important parts of our daily practice, but there is another crucial dimension: it is being kind to our own body-mind. This is a method for connecting with our buddhanature during our daily activities.” says Pema Khandro.

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email volunteer@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

FEBRUARY

Meditation Instructor Training – February 19 – August 9
Choying Dzod: The Freedom of Being – February 23- 25

APRIL

Touching Earth: Buddhism and the Environment – April 5- April 7

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 31 – June 2

*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone

Buddhist Studies Institute

Wishing you a Happy Losar from Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute!

Buddhist Studies Institute

Dear Members, Supporters and Friends,

We are happy to announce that due to your generosity and support, $18,000 was raised for the Technology Upgrade. While falling short of the $50,000 needed, the $18,000 will allow the work on the digital upgrade to progress.

Our next fundraising campaign will continue to raise the balance of needed funds!

While it’s true the goal was not reached, $18,000 is still significant and very helpful towards our goal of taking our technology to the next level.  Thank each of you for contributing!  Whether your donation be called large or small, each donation has made an important difference and your intention to support the work of Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute is most strongly appreciated.

May your 2024 be full of happiness, good fortune and increasing bodhichitta!

Wishing you an abundance of blessings,

Janak

Janak Kimmel

Director of Fundraising

Ngakpa International
Buddhist Studies Institute

www.BuddhistStudiesInstitute.org

Buddhist Studies Institute

Ngondro Training
Heart of the Vast Expanse with Pema Khandro

Module 1 Starts Tomorrow!

Mondays Online

5pm – 6:30pm PT San Francisco

8pm – 9:30pm ET New York

12pm- 1:30pm AEDT Sydney

Ngondro presents the core practices of Buddhist psychology, working with core needs in identity, relationality, forgiveness and repair, resources and the sense of empowerment. Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute for a journey into Ngongro, the core practice of Buddhist tantra.

Ngondro meditation is the foundation of a solid experience of spiritual growth. Ngondro refers to a series of meditation practices for purifying, training and empowering the mind & body.

“There are different approaches to Ngondro, for some schools of Tibetan Buddhism it is reserved for much later. But for the Nyingma tradition we open the door to Ngondro meditations sooner, because for us it is the core or nucleus of spiritual training.”  – Pema Khandro on Ngondro

Buddhist Studies Institute

FREE 40-Day Meditation Marathon

This is an invitation to join us for practice every single day until Losar (Tibetan New Year) on February 10th. It’s so wonderful to be able to share this commitment with others and we invite you to join us every day for our free Daily Meditation sessions. Each 30-minute session is led by a Certified Meditation Instructor from the Buddhist Studies Institute. Whether you practice on your own time or join us live, we will celebrate all those who complete the 40-day marathon at our Losar Event on February 12.

Buddhist Fasting Retreat

Online with Pema Khandro

January 26 – January 28, 2024
9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pm GMT

Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute for a weekend of fasting, purification, and re-envisioning ones life.

A profound cleansing of body and mind, the Buddhist Fasting practice, “Nyungne” is a practice of disintegrating previous ways of being to re-emerge within the ground of one’s own intrinsic liberation. The fasting practice includes vows, mantras, Avalokiteshvara meditation, and silent practice to purify karma and heal body and mind.

This Buddhist fasting tradition comes from a Tibetan nun, Gelongma Palmo, from the eleventh century, who used fasting for liberation in the face of extreme illness. The online retreat will follow the journey of Palmo and by engaging in the meditation of the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. The weekend will include instructions on Buddhist Fasting practice, along with supportive instructions for nutrition and detoxification according to Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda to support those both new to fasting and those whose bodies are familiar with it.

Worried about fasting? Fasting can be done in ways that are helpful or harmful to the body. Let our experts in Tibetan Medicine, Chinese Medicine, and Ayurveda guide you in fasting safely for your body.

Ngondro Training
Heart of the Vast Expanse with Pema Khandro

Module 1 begins January 29, 2024

Mondays Online

5pm – 6:30pm PT San Francisco

8pm – 9:30pm ET New York

12pm- 1:30pm AEDT Sydney

Ngondro presents the core practices of Buddhist psychology, working with core needs in identity, relationality, forgiveness and repair, resources and the sense of empowerment. Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute for a journey into Ngongro, the core practice of Buddhist tantra.

Ngondro meditation is the foundation of a solid experience of spiritual growth. Ngondro refers to a series of meditation practices for purifying, training and empowering the mind & body. 

“There are different approaches to Ngondro, for some schools of Tibetan Buddhism it is reserved for much later. But for the Nyingma tradition we open the door to Ngondro meditations sooner, because for us it is the core or nucleus of spiritual training.”  – Pema Khandro on Ngondro

Losar ~ Tibetan New Year Celebration
with Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies Institute
Online – February 12th, 2024

5pm – 7pm PT San Francisco

8pm – 10pm ET New York

12pm- 2pm AEDT Sydney

All are welcome to join Pema Khandro for our annual Tibetan Lunar New Year Celebration This is a free online program. Open to the public.

• Vajrakilaya Dances Performed

• Losar Address with Pema Khandro

• Celebration of 40-Day Meditation Marathoners

• Dedications of Merit

• Year of the Wood Dragon Begins!

Donate below any amount to celebrate The Buddhist Studies Institute’s mission to help the Buddhist Teachings flourish.

Meditation Instructor Training 2024

February 19 – August 5

People all over the world have turned to Buddhist meditation as a source of wisdom. Meditation offers a powerful method to access a sense of spaciousness, peace and authentic presence. The practical benefits of meditation are well documented. Research shows it improves mood, reduces stress (Brown & Warren 2003), it improves memory, visuospatial reasoning, sustained attention and executive brain function (Zeidan et al. 2010). It reduces sub-clinical depression and anxiety (Schreiner and Malcolm 2012).

From a Buddhist point of view, when we know how to meditate, we learn how to work with mind and emotions. We have a practice for unraveling conditioned scripts and unconscious habits. Meditation is a pathway to discovering human goodness by making peace with our mind. Ultimately it is a method for getting free from dissatisfaction, resolving confusion and waking up to see reality more clearly.

The Meditation Instructor Training supplies the fundamental knowledge and experience necessary to lead meditation classes and one-day meditation intensives.

3 Modules

Traditional Meditation

Teaching Practicum

Teaching Ethics

This training is a pre-requisite for the Chaplaincy Certificate offered summer of 2024.

The Freedom of Being: The Choying Dzod Retreat

Online with Khenpo Yeshi & Pema Khandro

February 23 – February 25

9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST | 5pm – 8pmGMT

Beyond effort and achievement is the state of natural ease, the basic space of being. How to breakthrough to find this innate expanse is the focus of a profound Buddhist meditation manual known as The Treasury of Basic Space, The Choying Dzod (chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod). It presents the essence of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism, known as Great Perfection, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) in verse form. Venerated as a manifestation of the expanse of reality itself,  is the quintessential Dzogchen text by the fourteenth century master, Longchenpa.  It refers to the expanse of reality and pure experience of meaningfulness as the revelation of the ground of being.

The Treasury of Basic Space is a manual for meditation and liberation, as well as being a text that one reads to a dying person to introduce them to the nature of mind at death. Read during dying, it offers the crucial support at the most important time, by guiding the dying person to realize the nature of mind. Indeed, The Treasury of Basic Space has been read at the time of death of many great Dzogchen masters.

The Treasury of Basic Space details the elements of breakthrough meditation (trek cho), instructions which cut through misunderstandings of emptiness and point to the vivid wakefulness of sublime knowing.

Join Buddhist Studies Institute for this special program taught online by Khenpo Yeshi, Dzogchen Nyingthig scholar and Drikung Kagyu teacher and Dr. Pema Khandro, Dzogchen scholar, lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition. The three days of online classes will include the lung, the oral initiation into this profound text by Khenpo Yeshi, study, and practice led by Khenpo Yeshi and Dr. Pema Khandro.

How to Open Your Heart Further
by Pema Khandro for Lion’s Roar

Pema Khandro writes for Lion’s Roar about a bodhisattva’s love, “Don’t give up on love. When love is hard or painful, open your heart even further.”

Are you interested in helping us spread the dharma?

The Buddhist Studies Institute is actively seeking a Manager to be available for 5-10 hours a week. This is a volunteer position.

Manager Responsibilities Include:

• Create clear project plans and goals.

• Establish a work plan at each stage of the project, and allocate resources accordingly.

• Create and manage project budgets.

• Review project plan to determine time frames

• Remind team members of deadlines and keep team members on deadlines

• Identify and remove any obstacles that might hinder the team’s ability to meet deadlines.

• Effectively communicate project-relevant details throughout the organization.

• Facilitate project-related team meetings.

• Share project reports with governance committee

• Collaborate on the Organization’s plans and priority

• Design and launch evaluation surveys among team and community members.

• Be the main point of contact for projects.

For more information, please email info@buddhiststudiesinstitute.org or simply click the box below.

2024 Schedule of Events

ONGOING MONTHLY TRAINING

Daily Meditation Online
Vajrayana Training – 1st & 2nd Wednesday of each month
Ngakpa Training – 3rd Wednesday of each month

JANUARY

Buddhist Fasting Retreat – January 26 – January 28

Ngondro Training – January 29 – October 28

FEBRUARY

Losar Celebration – February 12

Meditation Instructor Training – February 19 – August 9
Choying Dzod: The Freedom of Being – February 23- 25

APRIL

Touching Earth: Buddhism and the Environment – April 5- April 7

MAY

Vajrayogini Retreat – May 31 – June 2

*All Times are noted in Pacific Time (PT) – Check your Timezone