Buddhist Philosophy Study Group

Saturdays
3-5pm
$10.00

In this group, we will come together to study and discuss the text of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara by Shantideva.. This text is the Way of the Boddhisatva and includes instruction for practice. It is a long poem describing the process of enlightenment from the first thought to full buddhahood. This group is for practitioners or anyone else interested in a serious study group.

Geshe Ngawang Gedun

Born in Domo, Tibet, Geshe la escaped across the Himalayas with his family as an infant. He studied at Sera Mey Monastery in Southern India from an early age and received ordination from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at the age of 20. Geshe la spent the next 18 years studying the six principle subjects.

Geshe la has been teaching in Australia since 1996 and in the U.S. since 2000. He is the Spiritual Director for both the Australian Tibetan Buddhist Center in Gold Coast, and Tara Tibetan Buddhist Center in Washington State. He is fluent and teaches in English to his western students.

Teachings with Geshe Jinpa Sonam

July 25th, 2009

Saturday 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Teachings on “The Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind” by Geshe Langri Thangpa

Donation : $ 10

July 26th, 2009

Sunday 3:00 to 5:00

White Tara empowerment

Donation : $ 15

Geshe la is will be available for house blessings and personal blessings by appointment from July 22  to 29th.

Green Tara Puja

Tibetan Lamas of Drepung Loseling Monastery

Following the closing ceremony and dismantling of the sand mandala at the Natural History Museum, the monks will come over to the Tibet Gift House and lead a Green Tara Puja for prosperity in these times.

$10 suggested donation.

Sunday, June 21

5 PM–7 PM at the Tibet Gift House
2889 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116

Seating based on first come, first served due to limited space.

During the closing ceremony, the monks will dismantle the mandala, sweeping up the colored sands to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists. Half of the sand will be distributed to the audience. Join us for the inspiring and colorful ceremony.

Tibetan Book of the Dead

Until August, Khenpo Chokyi Gocha will be teaching at the Tibet Gift House while Geshe Ngawang Gedun is in Australia.

Come join us!  The group starts Sunday, May 24, 2009, at 11 am, at the Tibet Gift House, 2889 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116
619-281-7888

Sundays from 11:00-12:00
followed by a Q & A period
$7.00

This summer, Khenpo Chokyi Gocha will be leading a study group based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

This group is just forming!

In this group, we will come together to study and discuss the text of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This group is for practitioners or anyone else interested in a serious study group.

Khenpo Chokyi Gocha

Khenpo was born in 1942 in Tibet. When he was nine years old he entered into the Niyngma (old translation) Monastery and began his Buddhist education. In 1959 he escaped across the Himalayas into India and continued his education with exiled Tibetan Masters. In 1980 his Master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche appointed him as a Buddhist Teacher (Khenpo). He has taught at the Kanying Shedrub Ling Monastery for five years and in Nepal, France and the United States to Tibetan, Asian and Western students. Khenpo resides in San Diego and is also available for individual teachings, ceremonies, special prayer programs for illness and the dying.

Sand Mandala at Natural History Museum

Visiting Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery commence work on Wednesday to create a Mandala sand painting, a 2500-year-old Tantric Buddhist healing practice. The ancient ritual, conducted by 10 monks over five days in the atrium of the San Diego Natural History Museum, will assume new meaning in this time of economic uncertainty. The monks will construct the iconic Green Tara Mandala, which Buddhists believe can lead to personal and planetary healing during times of uncertainty and economic crises.isiting Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery commence work on Wednesday to create a Mandala sand painting, a 2500-year-old Tantric Buddhist healing practice. The ancient ritual, conducted by 10 monks over five days in the atrium of the San Diego Natural History Museum, will assume new meaning in this time of economic uncertainty. The monks will construct the iconic Green Tara Mandala, which Buddhists believe can lead to personal and planetary healing during times of uncertainty and economic crises.

Wednesday, June 17

Opening Ceremony, Noon–1 PM in the Museum Atrium

The Drepung Loseling monks begin by consecrating the site of the Mandala Sand Painting with approximately 30 minutes of chants, music, and
mantra recitation. After the Opening Ceremony the monks start drawing the line design for the Mandala.

Thursday, June 18, 10 AM–6 PM

Friday, June 19–Saturday, June 20, 10 AM–9 PM

Mandala Construction in the Museum Atrium

Throughout their residency at the Museum, the monks will dedicate about 30 hours of team work to pour millions of grains of sand into place,
using traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. In Tibet, the art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor, which literally means “mandala of colored powders.”

Take-a-Breath Lunchtime Meditations, Noon–12:45 PM on the Museum’s El Mirador rooftop terrace
Space is limited. Email s.sidman@bw.plastination.com to reserve your spot.
Led by a senior student from the Vajrarupini Buddhist Center, lunchtime meditations will consist of a short introduction and guided meditation. The meditations are designed to relax and focus the mind and bring it to a peaceful and virtuous state.

Sunday, June 21

Closing Ceremony, 1 PM–2 PM in the Museum Atrium

During the closing ceremony, the monks will dismantle the mandala, sweeping up the colored sands to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists. Half of the sand will be distributed to the audience. Join us for the inspiring and colorful ceremony.

For more information please visit www.sdnhm.org. During Brain Glow week,
BODY WORLDS is offering discounts off full price adult tickets purchased
by June 16. To purchase tickets, please call 877.946.7797.

How to Eat Well through Tibetan Medicine

Jhampa Kalsang

In this lecture, we will explore the tenets of Tibetan Medicine as they relate to diet, behavior and exercise, and learn how to eat more in alignment with our bodies.

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

6-8pm
$5.00

“WINDHORSE” (1998)

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

6pm

Windhorse is a searing political drama.that rips the veils off Western idealism about Tibet. This amazing movie, starring Tibetan exiles who are not professional actors, was shot with a documentarian’s eye for everyday details. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The story of WINDHORSE begins eighteen years ago in the mountains of western Tibet. There, on a crisp autumn morning, a tiny village awakes. And three small children play at jump-rope — a brother and sister, Dorjee and Dolkar, and their cousin, Pema. But the idyllic scene is shattered by a sudden gunshot that takes the life of the children’s grandfather. (read more here)

Cry of the Snow Lion

Saturday, May 24th, 2008

6pm

“Impeccably made… Breathtaking…
A more concise and affecting summation
of the Tibetan crisis would be hard to imagine”
David Kehr, New York Times

Ten years in the making, this award-winning feature-length documentary was filmed during nine remarkable journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal.

CRY OF THE SNOW LION brings audiences to the long-forbidden “rooftop of the world” with an unprecedented richness of imagery… from rarely-seen rituals in remote monasteries, to horse races with Khamba warriors; from brothels and slums in the holy city of Lhasa, to magnificent Himalayan peaks still traveled by nomadic yak caravans.

The dark secrets of Tibet’s recent past are powerfully chronicled through personal stories and interviews, and a collection of undercover and archival images never before assembled in one film. (more here)

at Tibet Gift House
suggested donation $5

Hlarampa Geshe Jinpa Sonam

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation
Learn Meditation Techniques and Practice together
Friday, January 11th, 7-9pm
$5.00
White Tara Initiation and Empowerment
Saturday, January 12th, 2-4pm
$15.00

Prayer for World Peace
Sunday, January 13th, 2-4pm
During these times of global strife, practicing
this prayer helps to bring peace and good karma to those who practice it.

2nd Century Method to Overcome 21st Century Self-Destruction

2nd Century Method to Overcome 21st Century Self-Destruction
visiting scholar, Geshe Thupten Dorjee

In these times of global chaos and fear it is especially important to learn how to work with one’s mind and the emotion of fear. Come to this lecture for some basic Tibetan philosophy on fear and techniques on how to work with it. This is a beginning lecture on a possible more in-depth and longer class on this topic with suggested texts for reading.

Saturday, March 15, 2-4pm
$10.00

In the Fall of 2006, Geshe accepted a one-semester appointment at the University of Arkansas’ Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, teaching courses in Tibetan Culture and Buddhist Philosophy. Student response to those classes led to a second semester, during which he continued to teach the Tibetan Culture class, and added a class focusing on Approaches to Non-Violence based on the lives and teachings of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The continued enthusiasm of the students resulted in a semi-permanent teaching position at the U of A. Geshe now calls Fayetteville home.

In early 2007, Geshe and Professor Sidney Burris, director of the Honors Program and Religious Studies Program for Fulbright College, founded the Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas. TCIA is dedicated to helping the Tibetan people preserve their endangered culture within the emerging global village, through education, public teachings, demonstrations, exhibits, lectures, films, study trips – in short, with any activity that artfully showcases one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive civilizations. TCIA is currently in the very early stages of organization and is in the process of incorporating as a non-profit educational institution.