New York Programs, September – December 2013
Gelek Rimpoche Teaches at Jewel Heart New York
Saturday, December 14, 2013
2:00 to 5:00PM
Open to All
We are excited to have Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche teach at Jewel Heart New York in December!
Rimpoche is particularly distinguished for his thorough familiarity with modern culture and special effectiveness as a teacher of Western practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. Please join us.
No prior experience with Tibetan Buddhism and no registration is required.
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Je Tsong Khapa Day Lama Chopa Practice With Tsoh
Friday, December 27, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Open to All
Our annual celebration of Lama Je Tsong Khapa’s life, enlightenment, and wonderful teachings falls on Friday, December 27 this year. Here are our celebratory plans as well as important advice from Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche.
On an individual practitioner level, the essence of Rimpoche’s advice is that it would be very beneficial for interested individuals to do a Ganden Lha Gyema retreat with accumulation of Migtsemas before and/or after a Je Tsong Khapa Day Lama Chopa practice with tsoh offering.
Retreat and Mantra Recitation
For each session, one should begin by reciting the Ganden Lha Gyema (without the Foundation of Perfections), paying particular attention to setting motivation at the beginning and doing appropriate visualizations throughout. At the point of the mantra in the practice, recite (and keep count of) Migtsemas over the course of an hour or hour and a half, being sure to dissolve the Field of Merit appropriately at the end. Numbers of sessions and mantra repetitions can and will vary based on time and the interest of the practitioner. If you need more advice or instruction, please feel free to contact [email protected].
Je Tsong Khapa Day Lama Chopa with Tsoh
For Je Tsong Khapa Day itself, we plan a group Lama Chopa practice with tsoh, which will include our friends at Shantideva and other groups, as we have done in the past! Please plan to join us for this festive celebration.
The celebration will begin at 7:00 PM at JHNY. If you plan to bring offerings of food or flowers, or if you wish to help with set-up, please plan to arrive 30 to 45 minutes early.
We hope to see you on the 27th!
The Lama Chopa is a guru yoga of Je Tsong Khapa. Based in secret oral teachings, the Lama Chopa was first written down in Tibetan verse by Panchen Lozang Chogyen around 1600. In Tibet, many people, even children, knew this practice by heart, and it continues to be a daily practice in the Gelugpa monasteries throughout the world.
This comprehensive practice strengthens our relationship with our spiritual teachers through offerings, especially offerings of our practice. It guides us through a meditation that includes all the necessary prerequisites: after beginning with Mahayana refuge and bodhimind, we generate our visualization of the merit field and invite the actual enlightened beings, to whom we then offer the Seven Limb practice in elaborate and beautiful verses. Also included is a detailed meditation on all the stages of the path to enlightenment.
The Tibetan word Tsoh means gathering, collection, or assembly. The Tsoh offering is a great feast offered to all enlightened beings and to all non-enlightened beings as well, including ourselves. It is one of the most important practices of generosity, and is also extremely effective for accumulation of merit.
The food offered is always of the best possible quality and quantity. After the Tsoh is completed, the food offerings are shared among the participants and may either be eaten at that time or taken home to share with family.
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2013-14 Group Practice with 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 Summer Programs 2013– Beginning…
Our programming at Jewel Heart New York is entering a brief Summer hiatus, but there are still ongoing opportunities for learning, meditation, and practice over the Summer months!
Rimpoche’s “Essence of Tibetan Buddhism” webcast, airing Sundays from 10 to 11 AM, will continue throughout the summer.
Have a wonderful Summer!
FINISHING UP OUR SPRING PROGRAMMING…
De Lam Course Webcast from Ann Arbor
Monday, June 17 and 24, 7– 8:30pm
Delam, or the Smooth Path, is a multi-dimensional map that, when followed with genuine effort, will help us remove limitations imposed by fear and confusion, opening our hearts and minds to reach their fullest potential. Following Gelek Rimpoche’s transcript, De Lam, this course presents aspects of life for meditation that will deepen our relationship with the guru, ourselves, and ultimately bring about our future enlightenment.
This course will be webcast on alternating Monday evenings. To become a Jewel Heart webcast subscriber, visit this site.
REGISTRATION:
Registration for the course is required. Contact: [email protected].
ATTENDANCE:
We ask everyone who attends this course to write to [email protected] for each session that you join and notify you are there online.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:
The Homework Sheet will be emailed to you upon your registration.
TRANSCRIPT:
The basis for study is an interim version transcript which is only available for use in this course at this time. A digital format will be made available to you upon registering for the course or you can order a paperback version for the course through the Jewel Heart store. The final version will be published and made available to the public at a later date.
QUESTIONS?
Contact [email protected].
HEADLINING THE SUMMER…
2013 Jewel Heart Joyful Summer Retreat
“Develop Extraordinary Compassion the Tibetan Buddhist Way”
with Gelek Rimpoche
Thursday, July 4 – Sunday, July 14
Jewel Heart, 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Compassion, the wish to relieve and end suffering, comes to us quite naturally. It is also, however, not at all unusual to find disappointing gaps in our perseverance, and ultimately our motivation, when we are bringing forward our best to be considerate or helpful.
With present day heroes of compassion-in-action like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the eminent master Gelek Rimpoche, we are very fortunate indeed to have the opportunity to follow their lead, pick up time-honored methods found in Tibetan Buddhism, come to know ourselves and our experiences more clearly, and ultimately enjoy the satisfaction of knowing how to truly be of service.
To take it a step further, through Buddha’s ever pertinent wisdom, we can set our sights on developing the unparalleled, extraordinary compassion that is free to joyfully shine in every direction, impartial and without limit, like the rays of the sun.
We invite you to join Gelek Rimpoche at the 2013 Joyful Summer Retreat teaching Develop Extraordinary Compassion the Tibetan Buddhist Way from July 4th to July 14th at Jewel Heart’s joyful center in beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan.
DUE TO THE KINDNESS OF SPONSORS, THE RETREAT WILL BE FREE OF CHARGE TO PARTICIPANTS!!!
To register, click here for the registration form.