The Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra by the

 

The essence and pith of the Lord Buddha's teachings is Mahamudra, which is the essence of contemplative practice and the profound instruction of the Kagyu lineage.  The Third Karmapa's profound text, “Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra”, contains the entire path and view of Mahamudra.

 

With prodigious knowledge and diverse experience, Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin demonstrates excellence in his capacity to present authentic teachings on virtually any subject of Buddhist view, practice, and culture. His trademarked style integrates detailed but cogent exposition of great Buddhist literature with candid practical advice in a manner appropriate for all audiences, challenging and encouraging students at all levels of experience.

 

KHENPO UGYEN TENZIN received his training at Karma Nalanda Institute and Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. He was appointed Senior Khenpo at Nalanda Institute by His Eminence Gyaltsap Rinpoche in 1997.  He resigned as khenpo from Nalanda Institute in 2002, and returned to Bhutan. There he was asked to teach as senior khenpo at the Nimalung Monastery. However, he chose to go into personal retreat at Tang Kunzang Drag Monastery, the birthplace and main seat of the great treasure-revealer, Terton Pema Lingpa. He remained in retreat until 2004 when His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa asked Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin to help Karma Triyana Dharmachakra where he arrived on May 27, 2005.  

 

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Lama Tashi will present teachings on Mind Training or Lojong based on the Chenrezig liturgy "Benefit for Beings Throughout Space" which is chanted weekly at KTC. These instructions offer essential practices for cultivating the awakening mind of compassion, wisdom, and love (bodhichitta).

 

Mind Training or Lojong comes from Atisha's Kadampa lineage and is found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Composed by the Buddhist Master Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (1102–1176), "Seven Points of Mind Training" is a highly-revered text from the Lojong (mind training) Tradition. These instructions offer essential practices for cultivating the awakening mind of compassion, wisdom, and love (bodhichitta). Condensed into seven points, this remarkable teaching enshrines the very heart of Buddha Dharma, revealing the true essence of the Mahayana path to liberation.

 

LAMA TASHI DONDUP was born in Tibet and trained at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India, seat of His Holiness Karmapa, where he received teachings on the major texts from Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Sal-je Rinpoche, and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche.  He also studied ritual music and procedures, such as the making of tormas, the construction of mandalas, and the building of stupas.  He completed a three-year retreat at Rumtek and then entered a one-year Kalachakra retreat under Bokar Rinpoche's guidance.   Lama Tashi went to Kamalashila Institute for Buddhist Studies in Germany, where he served as resident lama for ten years before moving to Toronto, Canada in 1998, where he founded Karma Tekchen Zabsal Ling, a center located there.

 

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"The essence or quintessence of all of the Buddha's teachings are those teachings which describe and point out the mahamudra experience." According to the Buddha, the nature of our minds is awareness, clarity and emptiness. If we experience our minds in this way, we live in harmony with all of those around us and experience great inner wisdom, clarity and compassion. But discovering and experiencing this inner essence can be difficult without a method or technique. Therefore the Buddha taught tranquility and insight meditation to discover and uncover this nature that we all possess. 

 

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche was born in 1924 in Rabshi, Kham, east Tibet. A master of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, Rinpoche has been a monk since the age of twelve, and since 1976 has devotedly served His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa by spreading the authentic teachings of the Karma Kagyu lineage in America. He serves as abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery – the North American seat of His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Drodul Trinley Dorje. 

 

Click here for a more detailed biography.

$30 for each teaching session, $25 for empowerment

 

 Friday

7:00 p.m. Teaching

 

10:00 a.m. Meditation

10:30 a.m.-noon Teaching

3:00 p.m Meditation

3:30-5:00 p.m. Teaching

7:00 p.m. Empowerment, if offered

 

10:00 a.m. Meditation

10:30 a.m.-noon Teaching

2:00 p.m Meditation

2:30-4:00 p.m. Teaching