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schedule
Below is Don’s current schedule of the centers and study groups in North America for whom he will be providing teachings over the remaining months of 2024 and the first two months of 2025. Please link to their websites by clicking on the host center name just after each course/class description for more information on these events. Thank you and I hope to see you online or in person soon!
Weekly teachings - ThuRSDAYs : September 5, 2024 - January 30, 2025, 7:00-9:00 Pm MT
THIS COurse is ONLY FOR THOSE WITH HIGHEST YOGA TANTRA EMPOWERMENT - Please contact me if there are any questions on that requirement.
Grounds and Paths of Secret Mantra (IN person & online)
Grounds and Paths of Secret Mantra gives an overview of the structure of the tantric path, said to be the swiftest and most sublime means to realize buddhahood. Presenting the paths of all four classes of tantra, while not being a guide to the fourth, Highest Yoga Tantra, this subject provides a clear overview of its complex path structure.
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Weekly teachings - MONdays : September 9 - October 14, 2024, 6:00-7:30 Pm PT, With a Practice day on October 20, 1:00-4:30 Pm PT
FPMT DISCOVERING BUDDHISM - MODULE 6: All About Karma (CLASSES online only; practice day will be both in person & Online)
Learn the essential facts about the law of cause and effect in relation to actions and their results. Gain a clear understanding of how karma works. Discover effective tools to accumulate merit—the cause of happiness and success—and purify mistaken actions done in the past. Explore ways to become adept at dealing with life more effectively and thereby take control of our future.
All About Karma is the sixth in a series of classes called Discovering Buddhism. In this course, we explore 13 essential topics in Buddhism. This is an excellent course of study for those who have some basics but want to go deeper into Buddhist philosophy. All are welcome to join our Discovering Buddhism classes. Starting at the beginning of a new topic is best, but don't worry about the module number or the order in the series.
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Weekly teachings - MONdays : NOvember 18 -December 16, 2024, 6:00-7:30 Pm PT, With a Practice day on December 22, 1:00-4:30 Pm PT
FPMT DISCOVERING BUDDHISM - MODULE 7: Refuge in the Three Jewels (online only)
Often we seek refuge in money, food, material possessions and other things that are simply incapable of providing any promise of lasting happiness or real protection from suffering. What we actually need is to find a true refuge, a safe direction in our lives, one that will actually lead to the peace that we and all beings desire. This course will cover the meaning of taking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and outlines the essential vows and practices of refuge. We will also explore the various types of vows that a practitioner takes, the advantages of taking vows and their role in enhancing our spiritual development.
Refuge in the Three Jewels is the seventh in a series of classes called Discovering Buddhism. In this course, we explore 13 essential topics in Buddhism, from Meditation to Karma to Death and Rebirth, and more! This is an excellent course of study for those who have some basics but want to go deeper into Buddhist philosophy. DB was developed by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.
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Weekly teachings - SUNDAYs : December 1 - 22, 2024, 10:00-11:30 Am MT
Turning Arrows into Flowers (IN Person and online)
Just before the Buddha attained enlightenment, Mara and his demon army shot scores of arrows at him, but as the arrows approached, they turned into flowers and fell harmlessly at his feet. Similarly, life never has a shortage of arrows that are flung at us either, whether they're the everyday frustrations and annoyances or the more serious and challenging problems we are forced to face. In the same way that the Buddha turned the arrows into flowers, many practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism utilize the teachings of lojong, or mind training, to transform their suffering into exactly what is needed to progress in their spiritual practice. In this course we will examine the instructions given by Jigme Tenpe Nyima and advice from other great masters of lojong to aid us in the process of accepting and even welcoming adversity as a necessary and helpful support for our practice of the path to enlightenment.
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Weekly teachings - WedneSDAYs : December 4 - FebruarY 26, 2024, 7:00-8:30 Pm MT
Getting to Know Your Mind: A Practical Approach to Buddhist Psychology (IN Person and online)
The Buddha said that all of our experiences of suffering and happiness arise from our own minds. Thus, in order to achieve more lasting peace and wellbeing, it is essential to know how our minds function and to increase our awareness of the contents of our minds, particularly through understanding the salutary states that are ideal to foster and identifying the unwholesome ones that can be reduced and eventually eliminated. In this course, we will investigate Buddhist psychology using the basic teachings from the traditional study of lo-rig, "mind and cognition", but we will do so particularly with an approach geared toward practicality and easy application in our daily lives.
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SatUrday Workshop: DECEMBER 7, 2024, 10:00 AM-3:30 Pm MST
How to Live a Good Life: Exploring Secular Ethics (In person & online)
In an interview in 2015, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, "If Buddha reappeared today, he would teach secular ethics." In line with that idea, His Holiness wrote Beyond Religion, which provides his own insight and suggestions as to what might constitute a system of shared ethics for our world, a non-religious way for people to lead ethical, happy, and spiritual lives. In this course we will explore the advice outlined in that book and examine the principles and guidelines His Holiness provides, with the aim of helping ourselves and others in our lives to use the tools of secular ethics to create a more harmonious and fulfilling world for all beings.
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Weekly teachings - SUNDAYs : February 2 - 23, 2024, 10:00-11:30 Am MT
THe Joy of Letting Go (IN Person and online)
Many of life’s difficulties and complications are products of our own negative habitual thoughts and actions, but those harmful habits need not control our lives. In this weekend course, we’ll examine a variety of these persistent and destructive patterns in order to learn how to disempower them and cultivate new behaviors rooted in truth and genuine well-being.
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VISIT TO SOquel, CA - October 9 - 17, 2024
Working With Fear: WEDNESDAY, October 9, 2024, 7:00-8:30 Pm PT (IN person and online)
Fear is such a powerful force in our lives – on a personal, societal, national and even global level – and it is important that we find skillful ways to work with this difficult emotion. In this session, we will explore what fear is, how it arises and what effects fear can have upon us. Most importantly, we will discuss the ways that we can use fear within our spiritual practice, enhancing our wisdom that aids in our own progress on the path as well as our compassion that strengthens our connections to others.
Eight Pillars of Joy Retreat: FRIDAY, October 11 - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024, SEE LMB WEBSITE for Times (IN person and online)
In The Book of Joy, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu discuss “true joy”; which is a deeper and more dependable way of being that can be sustained and aid us through the many challenges of our lives. In the book, they outline eight pillars, or qualities, that are needed to cultivate true joy and provide a foundation for lasting happiness:
Perspective,
Humility,
Humor,
Acceptance,
Forgiveness,
Gratitude,
Compassion, and
Generosity.
In this retreat, we will explore our own potential for true joy by examining each of these eight qualities and discussing how we apply them in our daily lives.
Activating Feminine Energy in Buddhist Practice: THURSDAY, October 17, 2024, 7:00-8:30 Pm PT (IN person and online)
Although we all feel that our gender strongly identifies who we are, within each of us there is an unlimited source of both male and female energy. The beloved deity Tara, a familiar figure in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, is a female manifestation of enlightenment and, as such, serves to aid all practitioners in arousing their feminine energy. In this session, we examine Tara’s qualities and activities and explore the transformative power of feminine energy in Buddhist practice
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VISIT TO SAN FRANCISCO - October 20 - 21, 2024
The Gentle and Powerful Meditation: Tonglen: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024, 10:30 am-12:00 Pm PT (IN person and online)
To develop the awakening mind of bodhicitta, it is said we must increase our love and compassion to the degree that we are committed to doing whatever is necessary to free all beings - without exception - from suffering and place every one of them in lasting peace and happiness. Such a magnanimous and courageous mind requires steady and strong cultivation. Perhaps the most effective method for generating such a mind is the practice of tonglen, or “taking and giving.” In this session, we will examine and engage in this technique of “taking” others’ suffering upon ourselves and “giving” our happiness to others, so that we can gently and easily build up our practice of compassion and love for all beings.
ALL ABOUT KARMA PRACTICE DAY: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024, 1:00-4:30 Pm PT (IN person and online)
This is an opportunity for group practice of the meditations and discussion of the topics covered in Module 6 of Discovering Buddhism
Bridging Our Differences: Tools for Understanding and Healing Divisiveness in Our World: MONDAY, OCtober 21, 2024, 6:30-8:00 Pm PT (IN person and online)
While there has always been division in our world, it does seem that the degree of conflict over opposing views has heightened to a new level, particularly in the political environment in our country. With the national election right around the corner, it seems especially useful to have more tools at our disposal for managing our own emotions and not escalating the emotions of others as well. In this timely session we will explore some of what Buddhism offers in how we can understand and work with such divisiveness whenever and wherever we are confronted with it and not be overcome by it.
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VISIT TO CAMPBELL, CA - OCtober 25 - 30, 2024
Preparing for the inevitable: The importance of Accepting death and Loss: Friday, OCtober 25-SUNDAY, OCtober 27, 2024, SEe OCBC website for times (IN person and online)
Although the end of life eventually arrives for all of us, we usually remain oblivious to the reality of this fact for both ourselves and others, leaving us unskilled and unprepared when having to confront death. In this weekend course, we will examine the need to acknowledge mortality and work with the fear of death and the pain of loss in the context of our spiritual practice. We will also discuss how mindfulness of death and loss can be used in constructive ways to extract greater value from our lives. This course is suitable for anyone, Buddhist or not, who is interested in learning more about death and dying from a Buddhist perspective and preparing for and experiencing their own and others’ deaths with courage and serenity.
Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center
The Science of Happiness: Cultivating Positive Emotions: MONDAY, OCtober 28 & WEdnesday, OCtober 30, 2024, 7:00-8:30PM PT (IN person and online)
The Buddha taught that our deepest sense of well being is generated from within, through a process of familiarizing ourselves with positive emotions and lessening our tendency to react with negative attitudes. Recently Western psychology has embraced a similar idea in the push towards positivity as a means to create a healthier, more vibrant, and flourishing life. In this course we will examine what both of these disciplines can offer to us in our modern lives, and learn practical techniques to help us enhance our happiness through strengthening our positive states of mind.
Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center
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