SPIRITUAL: Special Class

Transforming Negative Emotions: Practical Coping Methods for Realistic Healthy Living

When negative mind states such as stress, anxiety, depression, anger, or jealousy get engaged, how do we stop the dysfunctional looping and maintain a healthy presence? This weekend program will explore a deeper understanding of what happens, offer techniques to interrupt unhealthy habits, and introduce meditations that can guide us to a more balanced reality. Tonglen and loving kindness meditation will be included. All events are open to anyone, with no pre-registration required.

Schedule

Friday, June 26, 2015, 7:00pm - 8:30pm: Opening introductory teaching

Saturday, June 27, 2015, 10:00am - 3:30pm: Retreat with teachings and meditation; vegetarian potluck lunch*

Sunday, June 28, 2015, 9:00am - 12:00pm: Retreat with teachings and meditation continued

*Saturday potluck - please bring a vegetarian dish to share; entrees are particularly helpful, and hot dishes need to be brought in a crockpot (we don't have a way to heat dishes in the kitchen). Labeling ingredients helps people with dietary issues (vegan, gluten-free, etc.) tell if they can enjoy your offering!

      Sponsor Ven. Amy's visit

About Venerable Amy Miller

Amy J. Miller (Ven. Lobsang Chodren) first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the spring of 1987 during a course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Since then, she has spent a great deal of time engaged in meditation retreats, study, teaching, and Buddhist center management throughout the world. Prior to meeting the Dharma, Amy was a political fundraiser in Washington, DC and also worked for Mother Jones Magazine in San Francisco, California.

From 1992-1995, Amy managed Tse Chen Ling Center in San Francisco, California. She then served as Director of Vajrapani Institute, also in California, from 1995-2004. From 1998-2002, she was also the Manager of the Lawudo Retreat Fund (which supports the center in which the sacred cave of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche is located) in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. In 2004, after resigning as Director, Amy completed a seven-month solitary retreat at Vajrapani. For most of 2005 and 2006, she organized international teaching tours for and traveled with the esteemed Tibetan Buddhist master, Ven. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche until Rinpoche’s death in 2006. Amy then became a touring teacher for the FPMT (the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition). From 2008-2014, Amy was Director of Milarepa Center in Barnet, Vermont.

Amy has also had the good fortune to visit Tibet in 1987 and again in 2001 as a pilgrimage leader for the Institute of Noetic Science in the United States. She has also led pilgrimages to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Darjeeling, and Sikkim for the Liberation Prison Project and Milarepa Center. The next pilgrimage she will be leading will be to Burma (Myanmar) in September, 2015. Contact Effie@hightreks.com for more information.

Amy was ordained as a Buddhist nun in June 2000 by the great Tibetan master, Ven. Choden Rinpoche, and has been teaching extensively since 1992. Her teaching style emphasizes a practical approach to integrating Buddhist philosophy into everyday life. She is happy to help people connect with meditation and mindfulness in an effort to gain a refreshing perspective on normally stressful living. Amy’s courses and retreats predominantly focus on establishing and maintaining a meditation and mindfulness practice, death and dying, overcoming anxiety and depression, battling addiction, dealing with self-esteem issues, and cultivating compassion and loving kindness. She is also often involved in leading a variety of retreats.

Amy is the co-author of Buddhism in a Nutshell and a contributor to Living in the Path, a series of online courses produced by FPMT

Based in the United States, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Amy teaches and leads retreats and pilgrimages around the world.

      Sponsor Ven. Amy's visit

Many of us hold anger in our hearts either because we blame others for harming us or ourselves for our mistakes. Learn the Buddhist method of fogriveness through purification. The basis of purification practice is the four opponent powers - regret, reliance, remedy, and resolve. This allows us to see harm done to us by others as the result of our karma, as well as letting go of our own mistakes and reducing or eliminating their harmful effects. Done well, this practice helps eliminate guilt, grudges, anger and frustration.

Geshe Gelek will be teaching a once-a-month class on different types of purification (Confession to the 35 Buddhas with prostrations, Vajrasattva, Dorje Khadro, and purifying broken vows). Learn about the four opponent powers of regret, reliance, remedy, and resolve to admit and let go of our mistakes in a positive way. We can also begin to see the harm of others as purification, and the chance to practice keeping our resolve not to repeat bad behaviors ourselves. Through reliance on the holy beings who represent the perfect qualities we are striving to emulate, we have various ways to remedy the mistakes. Geshe-la will teach on the different methods and rituals so you can find what works best for you.

The classes are on the second Saturday of every month from 9:30am - 12:30pm starting February 14th. The culmination of these classes will be a purification retreat with Geshe Gelek the last weekend of July (24-26) at the lovely Avila retreat center in Durham. More on that later...but save the date!

Want to do some reading to prepare? Some good books include:
Everlasting Rain of Nectar by Geshe Jampa Gyatso
Becoming Vajrasattva by Lama Yeshe
Peacock in the Poison Grove by Geshe Sopa

Transforming Negative Emotions: Practical Coping Methods for Realistic Healthy Living

When negative mind states such as stress, anxiety, depression, anger, or jealousy get engaged, how do we stop the dysfunctional looping and maintain a healthy presence? This weekend program will explore a deeper understanding of what happens, offer techniques to interrupt unhealthy habits, and introduce meditations that can guide us to a more balanced reality. Tonglen and loving kindness meditation will be included. All events are open to anyone, with no pre-registration required.

Schedule

Friday, June 26, 2015, 7:00pm - 8:30pm: Opening introductory teaching

Saturday, June 27, 2015, 10:00am - 3:30pm: Retreat with teachings and meditation; vegetarian potluck lunch*

Sunday, June 28, 2015, 9:00am - 12:00pm: Retreat with teachings and meditation continued

*Saturday potluck - please bring a vegetarian dish to share; entrees are particularly helpful, and hot dishes need to be brought in a crockpot (we don't have a way to heat dishes in the kitchen). Labeling ingredients helps people with dietary issues (vegan, gluten-free, etc.) tell if they can enjoy your offering!

      Sponsor Ven. Amy's visit

About Venerable Amy Miller

Amy J. Miller (Ven. Lobsang Chodren) first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the spring of 1987 during a course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Since then, she has spent a great deal of time engaged in meditation retreats, study, teaching, and Buddhist center management throughout the world. Prior to meeting the Dharma, Ven. Amy was a political fundraiser in Washington, DC and also worked for Mother Jones Magazine in San Francisco, California.

From 1992-1995, Ven. Amy managed Tse Chen Ling Center in San Francisco, California. She then served as Director of Vajrapani Institute, also in California, from 1995-2004. From 1998-2002, she was also the Manager of the Lawudo Retreat Fund (which supports the center in which the sacred cave of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche is located) in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. In 2004, after resigning as Director, Ven. Amy completed a seven-month solitary retreat at Vajrapani. For most of 2005 and 2006, she organized international teaching tours for and traveled with the esteemed Tibetan Buddhist master, Ven. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche until Rinpoche’s death in 2006. Ven. Amy then became a touring teacher for the FPMT (the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition). From 2008-2014, Ven. Amy was Director of Milarepa Center in Barnet, Vermont.

Ven. Amy has also had the good fortune to visit Tibet in 1987 and again in 2001 as a pilgrimage leader for the Institute of Noetic Science in the United States. She has also led pilgrimages to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Darjeeling, and Sikkim for the Liberation Prison Project and Milarepa Center. The next pilgrimage she will be leading will be to Burma (Myanmar) in September, 2015. Contact Effie@hightreks.com for more information.

Ven. Amy was ordained as a Buddhist nun in June 2000 by the great Tibetan master, Ven. Choden Rinpoche, and has been teaching extensively since 1992. Her teaching style emphasizes a practical approach to integrating Buddhist philosophy into everyday life. She is happy to help people connect with meditation and mindfulness in an effort to gain a refreshing perspective on normally stressful living. Ven. Amy’s courses and retreats predominantly focus on establishing and maintaining a meditation and mindfulness practice, death and dying, overcoming anxiety and depression, battling addiction, dealing with self-esteem issues, and cultivating compassion and loving kindness. She is also often involved in leading a variety of retreats.

Ven. Amy is the co-author of Buddhism in a Nutshell and a contributor to Living in the Path, a series of online courses produced by FPMT

Based in the United States, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ven. Amy teaches and leads retreats and pilgrimages around the world.

      Sponsor Ven. Amy's visit

Based on advice from Khadro-la, our Spiritual Director Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised all FPMT centers for Sur Offering Practice daily in order to be successful. Rinpoche recently urged centers again to start doing this practice, so Geshe Sangpo will teach us how to do this charity offering to the spirits (especially those in the bardo). He will teach the entire practice, but also how to do a very short version when doing it daily. It is possible for a student to do the practice on behalf of then entire center, perhaps take 6 month turns and rotate with other students, so we will decide as a group how we will do this practice long-term on a daily basis. 

Part of this class involves hands-on mixing of ingredients and burning the food offering to create the aroma offering, so it's important to plan to attend in person to get all the instructions.

For more about this practice and a free download of the prayers, please go to FPMT's website.

We need helpers to roll mantras that will be put in statues as a blessing. After the 10:45am teaching, there will be a quick hands-on lesson in the center lobby how to roll mantras and take-home kits for anyone who would like to try this meritorious activity! Led by Tim Powell and Louise Miller.