Teachers visiting Jamyang


     Jump to:  Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin ~  Ven. Sangye Khadro

           Robert Beer  ~ Ven. Amy Miller ~ Andy Weber  ~ Alan Wallace




Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin-

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Born in Tibet in 1934, Rinpoche was ordained as a monk at the age of seven and entered Sera Je monastery when he was seventeen. Rinpoche was awarded a Geshe Lharampa degree and later served as the abbot of Gyume Tantric College, relocated in Hunsur, India. He primarily resides in Sera Je Monastery in Bylakuppe, India where he teaches many students preparing for their geshe degrees including young tulkus (recognized incarnations).

Because of Khensur Rinpoche’s renown as a great scholar in the systems of both sutra and tantra, he is called upon to teach in many places in North America, Europe, and Asia. He is a highly respected teacher and meditation master.

In Geshe Tashi's words: "There are many important reasons to bring these teachings from this great teacher this year. Just recently on a visit to India I saw Khensur Rinpoche and I requested him to give us a time for people to come to these teachings.  So although it is not very much part of Tibetan culture to schedule for many months earlier, very kindly he understood my request and said 'Yes I will come in September and start the teachings'. So therefore, both you and the people you know, your friends, the spiritual connections in the past and present, let everyone know this great opportunity is going to come."

Request for sponsors for Khensur Rinpoche’s visit

The costs of running such events in London are high. We estimate on this occasion it will be around £8,500. We would like to offer the Lamrim teachings for free, as well as sponsor places for nuns and monks to attend all the teachings, while keeping the suggested donation low.

We are looking for sponsors. If you offer £500 this will enable us to offer 3 free sangha places plus lunches for them. If you can be a sponsor please indicate this when you apply. Thank you.

Teachings on the Gradual Path to Enlightenment
Monday 7, Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 of September, 7.00pm- 9.00pm
Voluntary donation

The structured meditations of the ‘Gradual Path’ meditation system are accessible to all and are a profound method for freeing ourselves from unhelpful repetitive patterns of thinking and behaving and for turning the mind from selfishness to altruism.

Everybody of any level is welcome to these teachings.

Heruka 5 Deities and Vajrayogini Initiation and Commentary
(See dates below)

Vajrayogini is a fully enlightened female Buddha.  Her practice belongs to the mother tantras of the highest yoga tantras. Her practice is simple, profound, powerful and highly beneficial bringing results in this very lifetime as well as in the future.

"The Vajrayogini yoga method is extremely powerful. It is just what we need in these degenerate times, with our delusions running rampant and our minds grasping at concretized sense pleasures. Therefore, a method such as this, which has the wisdom to transform delusions, is of the utmost need, especially as it has the profound property of becoming more powerful as delusions become stronger."  --Lama Thubten Yeshe

In order to take the Vajrayogini initiation you must attend both Heruka days.  In order to take the Heruka initiation you must attend the preparation day.  There will definitely be a commitment to recite the six session guru yoga every day and maybe short mantras and short sadhanas. Please check our website or call Jamyang's office for further details.


Heruka & Vajrayogini Initiation:

Friday       11th ,7 - 9pm Heruka Preparation
Saturday   12th, 2 - 7pm Heruka Initiation
Sunday     13th, 2 - 7pm Vajrayogini Initiation
Suggested Donation: £60 

Commentary:
Thursday 17th, 11am- 7pm (includes lunch)
Friday       18th, 11am- 7pm (includes lunch)
Saturday   19th, 11am- 7pm (includes lunch)
Sunday     20th, 11am- 7pm (includes lunch)
Suggested Donation: £80 

  


Please note that this is an advanced teaching and is only for those willing to take on the commitments of the practice. You can check with your teacher for suitability.




Sangye Khadro-
Sangye Khadro will be teaching at Jamyang on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of September.

Kathleen McDonald was born in California in 1952, and took her first courses in Buddhism in Dharamsala, India in 1973. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 1974. She has studied Buddhism with various teachers such as Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Thubten Yeshe, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey and Geshe Jampa Tegchog, and in various countries such as India, Nepal, England, France, and Australia.

 At the request of her teachers Ven Sangye Khadro began teaching in 1979, while living in England, and since then has taught in many countries around the world, most recently at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, for 11 years. In 1988 Sangye Khadro took the full ordination or Gelongma vows. Her book, How to Meditate, is a best selling book of Wisdom Publications now in its 14th printing.

Applying the wisdom of dependent arising in our daily life
Friday 25th 7.30pm- 9.00pm (£10)
Saturday 26th 10am - 5pm    (£45 including lunch)
Suggested Donation:  £55  including lunch.
 

Dependent-arising is one of the most important teachings in Buddhism. It is known as the “king of reasons” for realizing emptiness, the true nature of all things, and the realization of emptiness in turn enables us to become free from the ignorance that is the root cause of all our problems and suffering. Understanding dependent-arising is thus essential for the attainment of real freedom and enlightenment.

But an understanding of dependent-arising is also very useful and practical in our every-day lives. It is not a complex philosophical doctrine that requires years of study to comprehend; it simply means that nothing exists independently: that whatever exists is dependent on other things. Everything is dependent, and interdependent. Remembering it can help us to remain more calm in the face of problems, both external and internal; it is an effective method for working on disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, depression, fear, and jealousy; and it can also help us to increase our positive mental states, such as loving-kindness, compassion, patience, generosity, and so on. Therefore, mindfulness of dependent-arising in our daily life enables us to have greater peace and happiness, and less suffering.

 In this course, Ven. Sangye Khadro will explain the various levels of dependent-arising, as well as methods for applying it in our daily life. The course will include talks, guided meditations, and discussion, and is suitable for both new and advanced students.

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Robert Beer-

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Robert Beer has studied and practised Tibetan thangka painting for the last thirty-seven years. One of the first Westerners to become actively involved in this art form, he initially studied for a period of five years in India and Nepal with several of the finest artists living at that time.

 Over the last fifteen years he has concentrated more on writing about the deities than depicting them, and researching the historical and cultural context in which they arose. His line drawings and paintings have appeared in several hundred books, and he is the author of The Encylopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, and more recently, The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols.

 At present he is working on an illustrated book about the modern Newar art movement of the Kathmandu Valley, a unique tradition with its own extensive pantheon of Hindu and Buddhist deities. He lives in Oxford.

Symbolism of Yamantaka and Vajrayogini
Saturday 17th October 2pm-8.30pm
Suggested Donation: £35 including a meal.

Drawing from his vast experience, Robert Beer will lead a series of Saturday workshops at Jamyang, explaining the imagery and symbolism of the Vajrayana path. 

An opportunity not to be missed by students who are tantric practitioners or are interested in Buddhist art and iconography.

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Andy Weber-

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Andy Weber is one of the world’s leading artists specializing in Tibetan Buddhist art.  He spent seven years living and studying the iconographical art of Tibetan Buddhism under the guidance of accomplished masters in India and Nepal. 

His unique style of authentic images for visualization are highly respected, not only by the growing number of Western Buddhists but also by Tibetan Lamas of all traditions, many of whom have commissioned his work. 

His thangka paintings (Tibetan scroll paintings) can be seen in Buddhist centres and temples throughout the world, including the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, and his images have become well known and popular through numerous publications. 

He conducts art classes all over the world, and we are delighted he is a regular teacher at Jamyang.

Vajrayogini art workshop: Deity and Mandala
November and December 2009
Suggested Donation: to be confirmed

Following Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin's Vajrayogini initiation, Andy Weber will be leading this workshop on the female deity Vajrayogini. More information will be available closer to the time.

  For drawing please bring:
1. A3  (29cm x 42cm - 11.5 ” x 16.5 “) drawing paper – 2 sheets or larger sizes for large drawings.
2. Mechanical pencils (0.5mm or 0.3 mm) with HB lead or ordinary pencils HB, 2B, F and a pencil sharpener
3. Eraser or putty
4. Long ruler (60cm - 24”)
5.Compass for drawing circles
6.Tracing paper
7. Masking tape to attach paper to drawing board
8. Drawing board. One can obtain a cheap drawing board by buying pre-cut MDF ( medium density fibre) or marine plywood  (10 mm –  3/8 “ thickness).  Any size larger than the paper, e.g. 18” x 24”.

Alan Wallace-

Alan W.Alan Wallace will be leading a Shamata retreat at Jamyang from the 10th to the 16th of December 2009.


Alan Wallace, a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since 1970, has taught Buddhist theory and meditation worldwide since 1976. Having devoted fourteen years to training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, ordained by H. H. the Dalai Lama, he went on to earn an undergraduate degree in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College and a doctorate in religious studies at Stanford. in the US.


From 1995-1997, he was a Visiting Scholar in the departments of religious studies and psychology at Stanford University.During this time, he and his wife, Dr. Vesna A. Wallace, produced a new translation from the Sanskrit and Tibetan of the classic text A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Snow Lion, 1997).

From 1997-2001, Alan Wallace taught in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he held classes on Tibetan Buddhist studies and the interface between science and religion. His most recent academic books are Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness (Columbia University Press, 2008), Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism  and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia University Press, 2007),The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Consciousness (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground (Columbia University Press, 2003), and his latest popular book is Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind-Training (Snow Lion 2001).

After leaving University of California Santa Barbara in June 2001, he spent six months in a solitary contemplative retreat in the high desert of California. He now lives in Santa Barbara, where he is the president and founder of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. He teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation throughout Europe and North America. You can read more about Alan Wallace at his website: http://alanwallace.org

With his unique background, Alan brings deep experience and applied skills to the challenge of integrating traditional Indo-Tibetan Buddhism with the modern world.

The Way of Shamatha: Soothing the Body, Settling the Mind, and Illuminating Awareness: Theory and practice for developing different methods of meditative quiescence

10th - 16th of December 
Suggested donation: 
Full Retreat (living in) £360  
                                                        (living out) £320  

Accommodation and other practical advice if this is your first retreat at Jamyang here!

During this retreat we will explore in theory and practice a range of methods for developing meditative quiescence, or shamatha. We will begin with the practice of mindfulness of the breathing as taught by the Buddha, which is an especially effective approach to soothing the body and calming the discursive mind. This will be taught in three phases: (1) mindfulness of the sensations of the respiration throughout the body, with a primary emphasis on relaxation; (2) mindfulness of the sensations of the breath at the abdomen for inducing stability of attention; and (3) mindfulness of the sensations of the breath at the apertures of the nostrils for simultaneously cultivating relaxation, stability, and vividness of attention.

We will then explore an approach to shamatha called “settling the mind in its natural state,” as taught by the nineteenth-century Dzogchen master Lerab Lingpa in his commentary to the “Heart Essence of Vimalamitra.” This entails observing the space of its mind and whatever mental events arise within that field of experience, so this practice enhances the faculties of attention and metacognition.

 Finally we will engage in the practice of “shamatha without signs” as taught by Padmasambhava in his classic terma “Natural Liberation.” This practice of cultivating mindfulness of awareness itself is widely regarded as the deepest method for achieving shamatha. Although this subtle practice is taught explicitly as a means of achieving shamatha, Padmasambhava comments that it may even result in a realization of rigpa, or pristine awareness.

The achievement of shamatha is widely regarded in the Buddhist tradition as an indispensable foundation for the cultivation of contemplative insight (vipashyana), and this retreat is designed to provide students with a sufficient theoretical understanding and a 
basis in experience to enable them to proceed effectively toward this extraordinary state of mental and physical balance.

Recommended reading for the retreat:

B. ALAN WALLACE, "THE ATTENTION REVOLUTION: UNLOCKING THE POWER OF THE FOCUSED MIND."

B. ALAN WALLACE, "GENUINE HAPPINESS: MEDITATION AS THE PATH TO FULFILLMENT."

B. ALAN WALLACE, “Mind in the Balance:  Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity” (Columbia Series in Science and Religion). You can watch an interview on You Tube by following this link (http://www.youtube.com/user/sbics)

Please book in advance. Please let us know if you can provide accomodation for students coming from outside London as we have limited "living in" space at Jamyang. Thank you.

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Jamyang Buddhist Centre,
The Old Courthouse, 43 Renfrew Road, London SE11 4NA
tel: +44 (0) 20 7820 8787 fax: +44 (0) 20 7820 8605 email: admin@jamyang.co.uk