Hosted by Tibet House US
6-9pm ET
Online via Zoom

The “Praise to Tara with Twenty-One Verses of Homage” is a tantric text popular in the Indo-Tibetan tradition of Buddhism. Many lay and monastic practitioners know this text by heart and recite it as a prayer for protection and success; however, it also has deeper dimensions associated with all the levels of the Buddhist path.

In this introductory session with Buddhist translator Michael Lobsang Tenpa, we will look at the interplay between the “Twenty-One Praises” and Buddha-nature theory, especially as interpreted by the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. In this approach, every verse can be said to describe different facets of our deepest nature, and each repetition of the praise can bring us closer to manifesting the associated qualities in our daily life. We will go through each verse, discussing their literal meaning; meditate on Green Tara; and discuss different ways to chant the praise.

If you are interested in Tara practice, Buddhist chanting techniques, or Buddha-nature theory, this session will most likely be a source of inspiration.

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1pm Eastern Time | 6pm UK Time
Hosted by the Tibet House US

Shantideva’s Entry to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life is one of the most beloved Buddhist texts of the Sanskrit tradition. Teaching the two types of “awakening mind”, or bodhicitta, and the six ethical perfections of a bodhisattva, it provides a clear map for training in wisdom and compassion. In particular, the last chapter of the text contains multiple powerful aspirations, and each one of them can be used as a basis for powerful meditation on loving kindness and compassion.

On this Orthodox Christmas Eve, we are inviting you to join us in resounding some of these aspirations from a state of wisdom and compassion and union, planting powerful seeds for our personal and communal flourishing. The birth of bodhicitta in our heart will be the most powerful way to celebrate the winter season and also create causes for our conduct in the new year.

All the proceedings from this session will be donated to the relief effort for Ukrainian refugees.

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Hosted by the Sangyé Yoga School (London)

White Tara—a beloved meditational deity in the Indo-Tibetan tradition—is an expression of the qualities of wisdom, positive potential, and longevity in the form of a dynamic female buddha. Her practices, used and transmitted by many Buddhist lineage holders, provide us with a powerful set of tools for connecting with our basic goodness, strengthening both our compassion and wisdom, and changing the overall interdependence within which our experiences unfold.

This session with Tibetan Buddhist translator Michael Lobsang Tenpa will include guided meditations, a yoga nidra healing practice and explanations aimed at establishing two facts: this practice is ancient and profound, and yet it is also fully accessible to anyone who is inspired to do it.

We will explore the historical context, analyse the visual and psychological significance of White Tara’s appearance, and experiment with different aspects of practice, all to establish a firm foundation for personal or group practice in the future.

REGISTER HERE (In person and online)

Monday, December 18 (International Migrants Day), 1:00pm-1:30pm ET
Hosted by the Tibet House US

December 18 is the International Migrants Day, and thus an invitation to contemplate the ideas of home and belonging. Where can we feel safe at this moment in our personal and collective history? While trying to establish outer types of safety and security, we can also look at the idea of inner refuge — a profound sense of reliance on our basic goodness and the collective goodness that surrounds and holds us in different ways.

In this 30-minute meditation session with Michael Lobsang Tenpa, we will focus on the practice of inner refuge—finding safety within the qualities of our own basic goodness and the goodness of others. Although based on the practices of the Buddhist tradition, this session would be equally suitable for all, regardless of personal religious affiliations.

All the proceeds from this session will be donated to the relief effort for Ukrainian refugees.

REGISTER HERE

Sunday, December 10 (Human Rights Day), 1-4pm Eastern Time
Hosted by Tibet House US

Although sometimes reduced to merely a practice for feeling somewhat better, loving kindness meditation (maitrī-bhāvanā in Sanskrit) is a profound method that can be seen as containing the entire path to full awakening. On a psychological level, it is a wonderful technique for establishing profound types of balance in six important dimensions of our psychological activity: ethical, conative, attentional, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual.

This 3-hour class with meditation instructor and Buddhist translator Michael Lobsang Tenpa will focus on these 6 domains and different ways of transforming them through the focused and regular practice of loving kindness. This exploration will be equally suitable for beginners and for experienced meditators who want to view the familiar practice through a new lens.

December 10 is the Human Rights Day, celebrated by the Tibetan community as the day when the Dalai Lama formally received the Nobel Peace Prize. This session is an opportunity to explore the foundational quality of kindness that lies at the root of the Dalai Lama’s work and ethical philosophy.

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October 10, 1–1:40pm Eastern Time
Hosted by Tibet House US

For this World Mental Health Day, we are going to connect to a state of profound inner balance by using the meditation on loving kindness (maitrī in Sanskrit, mettā in Pali): a practice that has been historically used for opening the heart and cultivating a stable and focused state of mind (samādhi).

Over the course of the 40-minute session, we will progress from a state of outer stability and stillness to an exercise in self-directed loving kindness, which helps us find a firm ground in meaningful aspirations. From there, we will move into the realm of universal loving kindness, strengthening our sense of connection to our communities, and, eventually, to all who live.

All the proceeds  from this session will be donated to the relief effort for Ukrainian refugees.

REGISTER HERE

July 30,
Hosted by the San Francisco Dharma Collective

In this three-part series we will explore three dimensions of EcoDharma: 
 
 - The plane of personal wellbeing associated with inner ecology (also referred to as emotional hygiene by the Dalai Lama);
 - The relational domain of social wellbeing (complimented by the sphere of so-called spiritual ecology, which can be viewed through the lens of anthropology—or contemplative experience); and, finally, 
 - The service-oriented domain of engaged environmental protection, which brings us into action aimed at protecting the planet.
 
All the three levels—which might seem more or less interesting to us personally at different times—can perhaps be transformed through the application of a few key contemplative practices, which the Buddha and his followers from the Indo-Tibetan tradition organized into several convenient numbered lists. Combining these lists with our own deepest feelings about the planet and the sacredness of nature, we will see if the field of EcoDharma can be a source of inspiration and flourishing for us as individuals.

INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

Saturday June 24, 12–3PM Eastern Time
Hosted by Tibet House US

White Tara—a beloved meditational deity in the Indo-Tibetan tradition—is an expression of the qualities of wisdom, positive potential, and longevity in the form of a dynamic female buddha. Her practices, used and transmitted by many Buddhist lineage holders, provide us with a powerful set of tools for connecting with our basic goodness, strengthening both our compassion and wisdom, and changing the overall interdependence within which our experiences unfold.

This 3-hour session with Tibetan Buddhist translator Michael Lobsang Tenpa will include guided meditations and elaborate explanations aimed at establishing two facts: this practice is ancient and profound, and yet it is also fully accessible to anyone who is inspired to do it.

We will explore the historical context, analyse the visual and psychological significance of White Tara’s appearance, and experiment with different aspects of practice, all to establish a firm foundation for personal or group practice in the future.

REGISTER HERE

June 18, Sunday
6 to 8PM UK Time
Hosted online by the CCN (Contemplative Consciousness Network)

In this specific 2-hour workshop with CEB teacher Michael Lobsang Tenpa, we will focus on our enjoyable emotions—the largest of the universal emotional families.

This group of emotional states plays a key role in motivating us to cooperate, connect with others, procreate, and explore the unknown to experience greater levels of wellbeing. Triggered by a variety of different events, these states include gratitude, different types of sensory pleasure, amusement and many other experiences that bring a positive tone to our everyday life.

By looking at these states through the lens of CEB training (which includes being able to understand their inner logic) and using CEB-based practices, including several types of meditation, we can increase the role of joy in our life–and then radiate it to others.

This class is fully suitable for beginners, but would also be beneficial to those who have taken CEB programs before. Please join and invite your friends! 

REGISTER HERE

Saturday, June 10, 2023
1pm ET
Online via Zoom

In this 30-minute Pride Month-themed meditation session, Cultivating Emotional Balance teacher Michael Lobsang Tenpa will guide us in the process of extending the foundational quality of tenderness (Tib. tsewa)—attentive, affectionate warmth looking into the depths of each being— towards ourselves and others. From this boundless warm spaciousness, we will step into generating loving kindness aspirations for a world that is more equitable, just, compassionate, and free of fear for all living things.

100% of the proceeds from this session will go to the Trevor Project (https://www.thetrevorproject.org) in support of LGBTIA+ youth in vulnerable situations.

REGISTER HERE

“The Eight Verses of Mind Training” (Tib. Lojong Tsiggyema) is a quintessential set of instructions for training in compassion and wisdom, compiled by the Tibetan master Langri Thangpa. One of the original sources for the powerful practice of “giving and taking”, or tonglen, this text is often used as the basis for daily training, and, when studied in detail, can even be said to encompass the entire Buddhist path. In this 2-hour session held on the day of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing (according to the Buddhist calendar), Michael Lobsang Tenpa will explain how to use this text for greater happiness and wellbeing.

This teaching will be in person & also virtually on zoom: all attendees on the workshop list will be sent the zoom link.

REGISTER HERE

Hosted by Tibet House US
Tuesday, March 21 (Spring Equinox)
1:00-1:40pm ET
Free, $5, $15, $20, $50| Online via Zoom

In this EcoDharma-themed meditation facilitated by Michael Lobsang Tenpa, we will explore the five natural elements as they relate to both our mind/body and the world around us.

Reconnecting to each element and the psychological qualities it represents (from the point of view of the Indo-Tibetan contemplative tradition) can help us strengthen our inner wellbeing and inspire our service to the preservation and protection of the planet and its multiple communities.

The proceedings from this session will go to the Indigenous Environmental Network (https://www.ienearth.org) in support of their grassroots work for environmental justice

REGISTER HERE

Saturday, March 18, March 25, April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22
Each class between 1PM and 3PM Eastern Time
Hosted by Tibet House US

The four applications of mindfulness (Pali: satipaṭṭhāna) are powerful techniques originally taught by the Buddha and aimed at liberating our mind from inner entanglements. Combining both concentration and insight, these practices help us establish profound levels of both attentional and cognitive intelligence, all through challenging assumptions about the true nature of our body, feelings, mind, and all phenomena.

There are dozens of specific styles of satipaṭṭhāna practice across multiple traditions, all co-existing in the spirit of complementarity. In this course taught by Tibetan Buddhist translator Michael Lobsang Tenpa we will explore the basic terms used in these meditations, explore the benefits they might bring to us personally, and learn a few foundational techniques from the Indo-Tibetan tradition, which, when applied deeply, can take us to profound liberating insights about the nature of our experience.

While no course can encompass the full depth and breadth of these methods, this 6-week exploration will help the participants to establish a stable basis of practice that can then be further deepened through gradual personal exploration.

REGISTER HERE

Hosted by the Lumbini Museum
Time: 7.30 PM Nepal | 8.45 AM US EST

This open talk with Michael Lobsang Tenpa will center around two dimensions of Dharma as it relates to environmental issues: Buddhism’s ability to support our eco-activism, and the potential for strengthening our wellbeing by finding deeper contact with nature.

Michael will dwell on the very concept of “Eco-Dharma” and then present a variety of ideas that could be used to explore both of these planes of practice, along with some contemplative techniques that anyone could start using in rebuilding the connection with the natural world. 

The talk will also include some time for Q&A or, depending on the time, a guided meditation practice.

REGISTER HERE

Saturday February 18, 12PM – 3PM Eastern Time
Hosted by Tibet House US

Fear, worry, and anxiety are our frequent companions. From an evolutionary point of view, they are supposed to help us deal with the unexpected, ensuring survival, and, ideally, even helping us offer greater service to the world that so badly needs profound change. However, if the deeper patterns associated with these emotional states become obscured from our view—so much that reactions arise merely automatically—our life can become quite difficult.

The Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) program, developed upon the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, includes both contemplative tools and psychological tools that can help us harness the primordial energy of fear and turn it into a helpful tool assisting our wellbeing.

In this 3-hour online session, CEB teacher Michael Lobsang Tenpa will offer the basics of the CEB approach, facilitate an in-depth exploration of different approaches to fear, and share some tools for calming our system down in moments of uncertainty. The workshop will include guided meditations, journaling, explanations, and optional group activities, all done in the spirit of tender enquiry.

REGISTER HERE

Hosted by Tibet House US
December 3, 11AM – 2PM ET (New York time)
3 hours with a 20-minute break in the middle 

The powerful emotional experiences of guilt and shame can be a large part of emotional landscape, helping us adjust our behavior in some cases and freezing us in a profound state of discomfort in others. 

In this 3-hour practice workshop based on the framework of the Cultivating Emotional Balance program (co-developed by Dr. Paul Ekman, Dr. Alan Wallace and Dr. Eve Ekman) Lobsang Tenpa will guide us in a number of contemplative practices and journaling exercises aimed at harnessing the energy of these emotions to establish greater inner balance and wellbeing. 

We will explore the way guilt and shame affect our self-perception, our feelings about ourselves, and our intentions, and then see how tender attention to these two emotions can help us access both kindness and insight—the two main wings of contemplative practice.

REGISTER NOW AT THE TIBET HOUSE US WEBSITE

An online workshop with Christian Howard & Lobsang Tenpa, hosted by Tibet House US

October 29, 1 to 3pm EST

In this 2-hour joint session, co-teachers Christian Howard and Lobsang Tenpa will explore the various ways to express our radiant nature by means of the 6 perfections (also known as "far-reaching practices", or paramitas in Sanskrit) of a bodhisattva. In addition to practicing the perfections directly, we can strengthen them by means of imaginative deity practice, in this case exemplified by Green Tara meditation—one of the beloved methods in the Indo-Tibetan tradition.

As Tara practitioners and teachers of engaged secular ethics, Christian and Lobsang will provide opportunities to meditate, do self-reflection, and expand our trust in our own ability to skillfully bring change to the world.

REGISTER NOW AT THE TIBET HOUSE US WEBSITE

August 13, 6pm BST

Hosted by The Contemplative Consciousness Network

In this 2-hour webinar, Cultivating Emotional Balance teachers Christian Howard and Lobsang Tenpa will explore the topic of cultivating joy by means of (and for the sake of) contemplative practice.  

After an overview of the 7 distinct flavours of joy that practitioners can cultivate by applying the Buddhist Dharma, Christian and Lobsang will focus on three quintessential practices that can be combined to support our wellbeing in the world that often feels mired in suffering. 

These three methods—harvesting joy, empathetic joy, and rejoicing—can be used to strengthen our emotional balance, cultivate profound states of concentration and make our progress towards awakening smoother and faster.

REGISTRATION LINK

July 09, 2022 | 6pm – 8pm BST

Lobsang Tenpa will serve as the MC for this class

Understanding our deeper aspirations—beyond the foundational wish for happiness and wellbeing—can be tricky at times. What are the gifts we can give to the world, and, equally, what are the gifts that we need in order to feel safe and fulfilled in our journey?

While many people can benefit from simply considering these points and journaling about them, many answers can also be gleaned from using guided imagery exercises. In accessing the creative, luminous aspect of our own mind, we can cultivate a deeper understanding of the unique path that we want to follow to uncover our basic goodness.

This webinar with mindfulness and Buddhist teacher Ondy Willson will include basic explanations, an elaborate guided practice, an opportunity to ask questions about the meaning of the experience, and space for journaling about it. Registered participants will receive the recording and supporting materials that they continue working with.

DETAILED INFORMATION

REGISTRATION

12:00 to 12:45pm EDT (New York Time)
Hosted by Tibet House US

During this Mother’s Day meditation, guided by Lobsang Tenpa, we will explore the interrelated qualities of compassion and generosity—both different facets of our inherent ability to care. The first part will take us through the process of cognitive training in compassion, cultivating habits of benevolent thinking and emoting. After that, we will proceed to a meditation on radical generosity, exploring the different ways in which can give to the world and other beings in it.

100% of the proceeds from this session will benefit humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.

REGISTRATION LINK

Hosted by Tibet House US
From April 16: Each Saturday at 11am Eastern Time
12 classes of 4 hours each

Cultivating Emotional Balance is a contemplative training program that combines the insights of psychological research with the traditional practices of mind-training. The aim of the program is to learn to use our emotions—both pleasant and unpleasant—to cultivate greater levels of clarity and psychological wellbeing.

Originally developed by Dr. Paul Ekman, Dr. Alan Wallace and Dr. Eve Ekman - at the request of the Dalai Lama - CEB has grown to become an internationally acclaimed tool for teaching key emotional and contemplative skills for those in service professions and just about anyone who wants to understand and control their emotional landscape better.

The full 42-hour Cultivating Emotional Balance program takes its participants through a deep exploration of their habits pertaining to all the major emotional groups: anger, fear, disgust, joy, sadness and so forth.

In addition, it includes a comprehensive overview of the three main forms of meditation practice:

• developing attentional stability,

• cultivating virtues of the heart and

• looking deeply into the nature of our experiences.

This in-depth course will consist of twelve 4 - hour long sessions each including a theoretical component, interactive group activities and periods of silent practice. Learning to understand the modulations and logic of our fundamental emotional states, we will use a number of psychological and contemplative skills to establish greater levels of inner stability.

Studies have shown that taking a full-length CEB strengthens one's meta-awareness, compassion, empathy, resilience and even the ability to accurately recognize emotions in others.

REGISTRATION FOR THE PROGRAM

Saturday, March 12, 2022 | 12:00 – 2:00pm ET | Free | Live-streamed via Zoom

This free info session (offered via Zoom) will focus on establishing a basic understanding of the role emotions play in our wellbeing, and the way we can deal with them by means of observation, suppression and reappraisal.

Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) is a comprehensive training method centered around the exploration of our emotional landscape and using its energy to support greater wellbeing—essentially, a greater sense of happiness, meaning and joy in the midst of our turbulent times.

Developed by Dr. Alan Wallace, Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. Eve Ekman at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, CEB is a secular approach that combines the scientific understanding of emotions as an evolutionary mechanism with the profound contemplative methods for developing concentration, kindness and insight.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE