Ecological Narcissism: Acknowledging Egocentricity and Reawakening Our Ecological Self
With Jeanine M. Canty, PhD • February 5
As the realities of our climate crisis have moved from a distant future to the very present, our society is still enmeshed in a false reality that numbs out ecological and social concerns and instead focuses on our small, often self-centered needs. Our small cocoons keep us safe from the larger chaos around us, yet are damaging … Read more »
Jeanine M. Canty, PhD, is a professor within the Transformative Studies Doctoral program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, working from a distance via the foothills of Boulder, CO. Previously, she was a professor of Environmental Studies at Naropa University, a Buddhist inspired institution, started her teaching career as a core faculty at Prescott College, an experiential learning institution, and still guest teaches at both institutions … Read more »
Ancestral Great Mothers At The Root of Spiritual Practice
With Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel • February 12
Osho Zenju will speak on indigenous traditions and how they supported her while being transmitted Buddha’s teachings. Specifically, she will bring to the foreground her experience of liberating qualities of the feminine power found in these ancient mothers: the Igbo African Mother water goddess Mami Wata and the Mother of all Buddhas, Prajnaparamita … Read more »
About Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, born to parents who migrated from rural Louisiana at the start of WWII, has walked through many different doors spiritually and academically. She was ordained in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. She has a PhD and she’s also a poet and author. Essentially, she’s a Seer in which she has woven herself into various frameworks to ultimately bring forth her visionary work. Zenju has embraced the active role of Seer, in watching for obstacles to awareness, despite the loss of such a role in the American culture … Read more »
The Black Dākinī’s Skillful Laughter: Healing Chöd and Intersectional Selves
With Amelia Hall, PhD • March 6
The 20th century Nyingma treasure revealer Kunzang Dechen Lingpa revealed his chöd practice in the 1950s, likely during his period of living in the sacred Tibetan hidden land of Pemako. The Wrathful Black ḍākinī (Throma Nagmo) practice in Tibetan Buddhist history connects to the 8th century CE and Padmasambhava, who … Read more »
Dr. Amelia Hall is an Assistant Professor of Buddhism and Department Chair in the Wisdom Traditions Department at Naropa University. She gained her PhD. in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies from the University of Oxford in 2012. She has taught and developed courses on Buddhism at Central Michigan University and Antioch University Buddhist Studies Abroad Program. She has practiced Dharma for 20 years and is currently working on a book on the Four Noble Truths, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications.
Poising the Mind for Insight
With Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel • March 12
The perfection of wisdom, or prajnaparamita in Sanskrit, refers to the mind poised for insight into the nature of reality. The highest purpose of these teachings is to remind us who we truly are; to point out the magnificence of the world we move about in, and to give us … Read more »
About Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel
Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for 35 years under the guidance of her teacher and husband Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is the retreat master of Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado and has spent over six years in retreat. She holds a degree in anthropology and an M.A. in Buddhist Studies. She teaches throughout the U.S., Australia, and Europe. She is the author of The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha’s Path to Freedom and The Logic of Faith: the Buddhist Path to Finding Certainty Beyond Belief and Doubt … Read more »
Three Kaya Wisdom Dakini Principle
With Sangye Khandro • March 26
Sangye Khandro will introduce the meaning of the three kayas from a Dzogchen perspective in terms of ground, path, and fruition. She will elaborate upon the way to know and recognize the three kayas based on those three occasions and will then discuss the three kaya dakini principle and how … Read more »
Sangye Khandro became a Buddhist in 1971 when she traveled to Asia, finally arriving in Dharamsala, India, where she began six-months of study at the newly opened Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Throughout the next seven years, she continued her studies of Buddhist teachings and the Tibetan language. She helped to establish numerous dharma centers in the United States and has served as translator for many prominent masters in all four lineages. Sangye has been the spiritual companion of the Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche … Read more »
A Dakini At Play: Sera Khandro’s Pith Instructions
With Christina Monson • April 2
Sera Khandro Dewai Dorje (1892-1940), the great Tibetan treasure-revealer and dakini, bequeathed the world an impressive collection of spiritual teachings and riveting stories of life at the turn of that last century in eastern Tibet. Her works include two major cycles of treasure revelations, biographies, profound Dzogchen instructions, and a compilation of personal advice … Read more »
Christina Monson is a Tibetan language translator and interpreter with over thirty years of study, translation, and practice experience in Buddhism. Her interest in Asian philosophy led her to immerse herself in the study of religion as an undergraduate student at Brown University. Later, she focused her studies on Tibetan Buddhism while completing a Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She first journeyed to Nepal in 1989 where she met her root guru, Chatral Sangye Dorje … Read more »
Niguma and Sukhasiddhi: Dakinis of Timeless Awareness
With Lama Sarah Harding • May 7
Two remarkable women lived about a thousand years ago in Kashmir, then the hotbed of tantric activity. When the Tibetan yogi adept Khyungpo Naljor traveled to India in search of masters who had actually received dharma teachings directly from the Buddha Vajradhara, he was guided to meet each of these yoginis on separate occasions … Read more »
Sarah Harding completed a three-year retreat in 1979 under her teacher, Khyabjé Kalu Rinpoché. She was associate professor of religious studies at Naropa University for twenty-five years, now retired, and a translation fellow of the Tsadra Foundation since 2000. Her published translations include Creation and Completion; Machik’s Complete Explanation; Niguma: Lady of Illusion; The Life and Revelations of Pema Lingpa; The Treasury of Knowledge: Esoteric Instructions; Four Tibetan Lineages; and … Read more »
Use of the Ancient Drum In Accessing Sacred Medicine and Healing
With Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel • June 25
Osho Zenju will speak on the ancient drum in indigenous traditions and Buddhist teachings. Specifically, she will bring to the foreground her experience in leading the drum in Native American Sundance, African medicine circles, and Zen ceremonies. She will point to how, traditionally, women were not given the opportunity to lead the drum in sacred ceremony … Read more »
About Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, born to parents who migrated from rural Louisiana at the start of WWII, has walked through many different doors spiritually and academically. She was ordained in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. She has a PhD and she’s also a poet and author. Essentially, she’s a Seer in which she has woven herself into various frameworks to ultimately bring forth her visionary work. Zenju has embraced the active role of Seer, in watching for obstacles to awareness, despite the loss of such a role in the American culture … Read more »
We look forward to your attendance for these precious teachings, and may all beings benefit!
~With Blessings,
Tara Mandala