New York Programs September to December 2014
Gelek Rimpoche’s Live Webcasts
Sunday Mornings
Beginning March 9 and Continuing Throughout the Year
11:00 AM to Noon
Please Note: These Teachings will Go on Brief Hiatus, Beginning December 21, Resuming Again on February 1, 2015
We are pleased to announce that Gelek Rimpoche will continue to give Sunday morning talks from 11:00 AM to Noon. Speaking from Ann Arbor and New York and other locations, these talks will also be a live video webcast, available free of charge from the Jewel Heart website.
_________________________
Odyssey to Freedom – Sections 4 & 5
Live Webcast from Ann Arbor
Section 4
Special Review of Section 3 – September 8
Sessions on September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13
Section 5
Special Review of Section 4 – October 20
October 27; November 3, 17, 24; December 1, 8
Gelek Rimpoche created Odyssey to Freedom as an accessible and concise Lam Rim, encompassing the stages on the spiritual path from our current situation, as it is, through to full enlightenment. This course follows Gelek Rimpoche’s transcript, Odyssey to Freedom. It is available for purchase as a paperback through the Jewel Heart Store at 734 994 3385 or [email protected], or in digital format through the Jewel Heart website. The course is facilitated by senior students in Ann Arbor and is also available as a Live Streamed Webcastfor Jewel Heart Webcast subscribers. Registration is required. To register and receive materials and protocols for attendance and participation, please write to [email protected]. To become a subscriber for access to this course as well as hundreds of hours of archived audio/video teachings, please visit the webcast subscription web site.
________________________
Overview of Indian Philosophy
with Special Orientation for Madhyamaka
Instructor: David Mellins, PhD
Jewel Heart New York
260 West Broadway, New York, NY
Thursdays, October 2, 16, 30; December 4; January 8; February 5
7:00 to 9:00 PM Each Evening
Open to All with Registration
We are delighted to announce this new course, taught by Dr. David Mellins, which will continue throughout the Fall and Winter. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the Indian schools of philosophy referenced in Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche’s recent Summer Retreat teachings on Madhyamaka.
We will investigate the diversity of philosophical systems that emerged from the foundations of ritual practices, yogic contemplations, and renunciative strategies in ancient India. Readings and discussions will review the chief controversies that articulate diverging views regarding knowledge and consciousness, self and phenomena, causation and fruition, samsara, and spiritual emancipation. The course is designed so that students will be able to identify the key philosophical positions that become targets of refutation in Madhyamaka treatises and thus more precisely appreciate Candrakīrti’s explication of Nagarjuna’s dialectical methodology.
The Principle textbook for this course will be Richard King’sIntroduction to Indian Philosophy (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1999), available new and used through Amazon.
About the instructor: David received his Ph.D. in Sanskrit literature from Columbia University and has been a student of Gelek Rinpoche since 2004. He has studied Buddhist and Hindu philosophies for over two decades and has taught language, religion and literature at Columbia, Yale and Rutgers Universities. He is currently working on a translation of Candrakīrti’s Tantric exegisis at Columbia University under the supervision of Dr. Robert Thurman.
REGISTRATION
Registration is required and will close the evening of the first class. Don’t delay!
Suggested Donation*:
$100 per individual
$50 per student
Online registration is closed, but you may still register via e-mail ([email protected]).
* Jewel Heart courses and workshops are open to all, regardless of ability to pay. If you are unable to afford a fee, please contact us ([email protected]) about the possibility of a partial or full scholarship.
Chandrakirti image courtesy of rigpawiki.org
________________________
2014-15 Tsoh Dates
Please follow this link for a complete calendar of Water Snake Year Tsoh dates. Tsoh dates at Jewel Heart New York are adjusted to fall on Sundays, unless otherwise noted in the calendar. Tsoh times are noon, unless otherwise noted in the calendar. Tsohs to celebrate special occasions, such as Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche’s birthday, will be shared in the newsletter well in advance. PLEASE NOTE: Waning Moon Day practices are restricted to those with Highest Yoga Tantra, Mother Tantra initiation unless otherwise noted.
New York Special Events May to August 2014
Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe Teachings This Fall at Jewel Heart New York
Saturday & Sunday, September 27 – 28; October 11 – 12
1:00 to 4:00 PM Each Day
Atisha’s Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment
Open to All
We are delighted to announce that our long-time friend, Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe, will be teaching this fall at Jewel Heart New York on two separate weekends! Geshe-la continues his commentary on this seminal text, which he began at JHNY in 2012. The two upcoming weekends will be focused on the Mahayana path. These are sure to be exceptional teachings by an exceptional teacher.
Professor Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe was born in Lhokha, Central Tibet and became a monk of Drepung Loseling at the age of 13. He excelled in his studies, and eventually received his Rabjamba Degree in 1958. After escaping into India he served as a lecturer at the school of Buddhist Philosophy in Leh, Ladakh and in 1967 was awarded the Geshe Lharam, the highest academic degree offered in the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism at Drepung Monastic University. He served as a lecturer at Sanskrit University in Sarnath and is currently a professor of Mool Shastra (Indian Tradition of Buddhist Philosophy) at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, the only Tibetan university in India. Professor Thabkhe is regarded as one of the most eminent scholars of both the Madhyamaka tradition and the Indian Buddhist studies. His monumental works include translation of “The Essence of Good Explanation of Definitive & Interpretable Meanings (Lek-Shey Nying-Po)” by Tsong Kha Pa into Hindi, as well as “A Commentary on the Rice Seedlings (Salistamba) Sutra” by Vasubhandu. As one of the greatest learned scholars of Drepung Loseling Monastery he facilitated the completion of numerous research works including a complete translation of Lama Tsong-kha-pa’s Lam rim chen mo “Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment”.
The great Atisha, the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist scholar and saint, came to Tibet at the invitation of the king of Western Tibet, Lha Lama Yeshe Wo, and his nephew, Jangchub Wo. His coming initiated the period of the second transmission of Buddhism to Tibet. Atisha’s most celebrated text, Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment, sets forth the entire Buddhist path within the framework of three levels of motivation on the part of the practitioner and thus became the source of the lam rim tradition, or graduated stages of the path to enlightenment, an approach to spiritual practice incorporated within all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment is a short text that nonetheless encompasses every point for an individual’s spiritual development.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration is required.
Suggested Donation*:
$50 per day; $80 per weekend
$150 for both weekends
To register online, please follow this link.
* A limited number of need-based scholarships are available. For more information, contact [email protected]
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND RETREAT 2014
‘Manjushri’s System of Blasting Through Ignorance’
Friday, May 23 – Monday, May 26, 2014
Held at Garrison Institute, c/o Glenclyffe 14 Mary’s Way, Route 9D Garrison, New York 10524
Open to the Public
As our daily interactions revolve around the unquestioned assumption of a permanent self deeply positioned within, we seek out happiness and contentment only to be frustrated by outcomes of suffering, confusion, and dissatisfaction.
Manjushri, the Wisdom Manifestation of all Enlightened Beings, shakes up that painful dynamic, delivering reliable results through a powerful system that capably blasts through our deeply entrenched ignorance of how we and the world actually function and exist.
We warmly invite you to join Tibetan Buddhism master Gelek Rimpoche for a weekend grounded in wisdom and compassion amid Garrison Institute’s springtime environment with lodging and grounds steeped in a long history of care and contemplation.
This weekend is open to all, with no previous background necessary. Those who are new are especially welcome.
For more information about Gelek Rimpoche and Jewel Heart, please visit www.jewelheart.org, call 734-994-3387, or write [email protected].
Final registration/check-in on Friday, May 23 is from 3 – 6:30pm, dinner is 6 – 7pm, and the retreat commences after dinner. The retreat closes following lunch on Monday, May 26.
Click here for registration, offered only through the Garrison Institute website.
_________________________
Please Join Gelek Rimpoche for an Exclusive Preview of Filmmaker Nikki Appino’s New Documentary
‘The American Rimpoche’
June 5, 2014
Tribeca Screening Room
6:30 PM
375 Greenwich Street
Reception Will Follow
The reception will feature refreshments as well as a panel discussion moderated by Jonathan Rose, featuring Gelek Rimpoche, filmmaker Nikki Appino and Philip Glass.
PLEASE NOTE: Seating at the theater and reception is limited to 74 people. Register now!!!
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
All proceeds go to benefit Jewel Heart!
Supporter: $250
Benefactor*: $500
Sponsor*: $1000
If you wish to register and pay online, please follow this link.
If you wish to register and prefer to pay by check, please contact Debbie in the Jewel Heart International office ([email protected]).
* Benefactors and Patrons may be publically acknowledged unless requesting to remain anonymous.
Photo of Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche courtesy of Nikki Appino