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Luminous Wilderness: Philosophical Reflections on Sacred Natural Sites

With Dr. Stephen Jenkins

Open Dates
This talk aspires to enhance appreciation of wilderness as a valuable resource for Buddhist practice, particularly in regard to the exquisite natural setting of Gomde California. It will examine how, since earliest times, Buddhists spatialized values in cosmology and maṇḍalic thinking and acted on those conceptions through pilgrimage, gardens, forest meditation centers, and visionary engagement with natural beauty. His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote that "places often have a power that we cannot easily describe or explain. When approached with an awareness of the emptiness and luminosity underlying all appearances, they can encourage us to expand our vision not only…

Travel, Translation, and Transmission: The Life of Vanaratna

With Dr. Ryan Damron

Open Dates
In this talk, Dr. Ryan Damron will help us explore the Indian pandita Vanaratna's (1384-1468) biography, and discuss the insights it gives us into the patterns of the transmission of Buddhism in fifteenth-century India, Nepal, and Tibet. Vanaratna lived a remarkable life that unfolded across the length and breadth of South Asia and traversed the Himalayan range. Born when Buddhism was rapidly declining in India, Vanaratna left his homeland to establish his career in the flourishing Buddhist cultures of Nepal and Tibet. As a teacher, author, and pilgrim, Vanaratna traveled through and lived among many of the diverse Buddhist communities…

Buddhist Perspectives on Vegetarianism and the Modern Animal Rights Movement

With Dr. Geoffrey Barstow

Open Dates
Tibetan Buddhism contains diverse perspectives on the question of vegetarianism. In this talk, Dr. Geoffrey Barstow will explore some of those perspectives, illuminating the complex ethical debates over eating meat within the Buddhist tradition. He will then look at how those perspectives differ from those of the contemporary animal rights movement, suggesting places where Buddhist ideas could enrich contemporary debates.   Lecture Format Dr. Barstow will deliver this lecture via Zoom. Registrants will gain access to the recordings of all sessions. An hour-and-a-half in length, the lecture will include time for discussion and Q&A with the audience. Date: Thursday, December 16…

Sang: The Practice of Smoke Offering

With Lama Tsultrim Sangpo

Open Dates
Sang is the Tibetan Buddhist practice of offering precious incense to clear away obstacles and gather auspicious conditions for our Dharma practice. While the benefits of this practice are well known, the proper method for doing so is rarely taught in detail. Therefore, in this weekend workshop, Lama Tsultrim Sangpo guides us in how to correctly offer sang, using The Condensed Smoke Offering liturgy from the Guru's Heart Practice that Dispels All Obstacles (Tukdrup Barchey Kunsel) as a basis. Guru Padmasambhava himself extolled the benefits of sang practice as follows: "When done regularly, and especially to create auspicious circumstances when…

Becoming Divine: Four Stakes that Bind the Life-Force (Concise Daily Practice)

With Lama Tsultrim Sangpo

Open Dates
In this 4-part online series, Lama Tsultrim Sangpo unpacked an essential aspect of tantric practice—the development stage. To properly realize our innate nature through sadhana practice, the great masters from Guru Padmasambhava down to our present teachers emphasize the necessity of "binding the life force" of the deity through planting four "stakes". These four points condense the essential methods of the development stage, and thus allow us to truly take hold of the deity—our own deepest nature. Lama Tsultrim, a master himself in all aspects of tantric ritual practice, guided us through an in-depth exploration these four stakes that bind…

The Concise Daily Practice of Guru Rinpoche: Exploration of the Tibetan Language

With Dr. Catherine Dalton

Open Dates
This set of recorded teachings is extremely beneficial for anyone wishing to learn the meaning of  "The Concise Daily Practice" of Guru Rinpoche, by studying the Tibetan words of the text. No previous knowledge of Tibetan is required to derive benefit from this class. In this online workshop, Dr. Catherine Dalton will elucidate the profound meaning of the Tibetan text of the Manual for Concise Daily Practice (Gyünkyi Köljang), revealed by Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa as part of his Dispeller of All Obstacles (Tukdrup Barché Künsel) treasure cycle. This simple, essential practice focuses upon Guru Padmasambhava, known affectionately as Guru Rinpoche,…

The Practice of Chöd: An In-Depth Workshop

With Dr. Catherine Dalton

Open Dates
Chöd, or “cutting through,” is a profound practice that cuts to the heart of wisdom and compassion. Traditionally attributed to the eleventh-century female practitioner Machig Labdrön, it is prevalent in many Tibetan Buddhist lineages. Combining the view of the Prajnaparamita sutras with tantric visualization methods, chöd is a direct meditational approach to severing ego-clinging. Chöd practice is also known for its hauntingly beautiful melodies, and has traditionally been used as part of Buddhist healing rituals. Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche has repeatedly emphasized the importance of practicing of chöd, and of perfecting our understanding of both its profound meaning and its lineage…

Personal Retreat at Gomde California

Open Dates
The wild beauty of Rangjung Yeshe Gomde California is an ideal environment for personal meditation practice. The waters of Eel River and Cedar Creek flow through stands of fir and redwood, and ever-changing light pours into the river valley. The natural environment of Gomde California supports a sense of awe and renunciation in our residents. In addition to the splendid setting, many Tibetan masters have blessed the land with their practice and realization. We encourage serious Buddhist practitioners who are studying under the guidance of an authentic teacher to apply for private retreat at Gomde California. Private Retreat Facilities Gomde…

Online Treasury of Blessings Practice

With Lama Kunzang Drolma

Open Dates
Join our online practice of the Shakyamuni Buddha sadhana from home! This a perfect opportunity to come together and engage in this essential practice, hosted by Ani Kunzang Drolma. SCHEDULE Regular Schedule: Sundays at 8:00 am (Pacific Time) Summer Schedule: Sundays at 7:00 am (Pacific Time) FORMAT Click "Register Now" to enter your information and receive the Zoom link. PRICE Free

Shakyamuni Sadhana in Translation and Practice

With Dr. Catherine Dalton

Open Dates
At the express wish of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, long-time translator and Rangjung Yeshe Institute faculty member Dr. Catherine Dalton will lead an online course focused on "The Treasury of Blessings" sadhana of Shakyamuni Buddha. Composed by Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche's (1846-1912) and widely considered to be a "mind-treasure" (gongter), this sadhana is both poetically rich in composition and totally complete in its practical framework. Furthermore, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche has extensively praised its qualities and provided teachings to unfold its depths. This course will proceed in two parts. In the first part we will engage in a linguistic approach to the sadhana…

Outer Tara Retreat: The Essence of the Two Accumulations

April 4 - 7, 2024
The Essence of the Two Accumulations is considered to be extremely powerful for gathering positive conditions – both for the sake of realization as well as the fulfillment of worldly wishes. The retreat is open to everyone and corresponds with Part One of the Third Excellence of Tara’s Triple Excellence. The majority of our retreat time will be spent engaged in the practice of the sadhana.  The Essence of the Two Accumulations is an extraordinary practice that was hidden in Tibet by Padmasambhava and revealed by Terton Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa. This sadhana confers an abundance of benefits and carries unique…

Skillful Transitions: A Discussion on Death & Dying With Rhonda LoPresti and Graham Sunstein

With Rhonda LoPresti and Graham Sunstein

April 11 - 25, 2024
Planning for end of life is an act of kindness for ourselves, our loved ones, and our community. Gomde California is offering a three-part community conversation on planning for end of life as a practitioner. These open and supportive gatherings will be led by sangha members Rhonda LoPresti and Graham Sunstein via Zoom. 1st Session – Writing a Spiritual Care Directive: This hour will focus on how we can ready ourselves through organizing our supports and instructions for the time of dying in one document. We will share the Liberation Upon Hearing Instructions and encourage reading The Bardo Guidebook. 2nd…

Awakening Dignity with Lama Bruce Newman

With Lama Bruce Newman

April 19 - 21, 2024
Gomde California
Awakening Dignity The notion of dignity is crucial to the question of how to live a fulfilling life. Phakchok Rinpoche draws from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to offer an insightful answer to this question. Dignity is the innate purity of our heart that we naturally possess yet often fail to recognize in ourselves. To move through life with confidence, clarity, and compassion, we need only to access, stabilize, and embody unshakable trust in this inherent nature. Our workshop will be comprised of introductions to the various aspects and stages of dignity along with the meditations Rinpoche teaches called ‘Dignity Training.’…

Online Accessing the Unconditional Love and Wisdom of our Buddha Nature with Lama John Makransky

With Lama John Makransky

May 4 - 5, 2024
From a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, our Buddha nature is the basic space of our being undivided from vast capacities of awareness, warmth, love, compassion and wisdom. These capacities are always available below our surface consciousness, but often hidden by our habits of self-clinging thought and reaction. One way that Tibetan practitioners start to access them is by bringing to mind the Buddha as an enlightened field of refuge, and experiencing themselves and their whole world as held in the Buddha’s unconditional love, compassion, and wisdom. Other contemplative traditions follow an analogous pattern: being held in the love, compassion, and wisdom…

Buddhist Studies Summer Program 2024

June 6 - August 4, 2024
The Buddhist Studies Summer Program (BSSP) is an intensive residential study and practice program. Students in the BSSP spend four to eight weeks at our remote Northern California center, participating in concentrated daily sessions of Buddhist teaching and meditation led by lamas, teachers, and translators from Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Nepal. This summer, we will focus on the Sutric and Tantric teachings of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition, guided by skilled Tibetan monks from Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling. Daily study of these philosophical and practice traditions will be supported by regular review sessions and ample space to integrate these teachings into our…