New York Special Events Winter 2016
Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Ethics
with Dr. Tom Yarnall
Buddhist “higher education” (adhiśikṣā) traditionally is divided into the interconnected disciplines of ethics (śīla), wisdom/philosophy (prajñā), and meditation or experiential cultivation (samādhi / bhāvanā). In this introductory series Dr. Tom Yarnall will focus on the theory and practice of ethics (with reference to the other inextricably interrelated higher educations) within the Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Topics will include the ethical practices and commitments progressively developed within each of the three Buddhist Vehicles (the Individual, Universal, and Tantric Vehicles).
While these sessions will be grounded in scholarly and historical material, Tom’s presentations also will explore how on a personal level interested or committed spiritual practitioners can deeply understand, connect with, and organically incorporate these Buddhist perspectives and practices into their own lives, moment by moment, day by day, for an entire lifetime (and beyond!). The two-hour format will allow ample time and opportunity in each session for questions and discussion, encouraging full, detailed, personal engagement with the topics covered.
PLEASE NOTE – The 4 sessions are offered at two different venues:
Tuesdays, April 5 and 12, 7pm at Tibet House US
22 West 15th Street, NYC, NY 10011
Thursdays, April 7 and 14, 7pm at Jewel Heart NY
260 West Broadway, NYC, NY 10013
Click here for registration. Pre-registration is required.
There will not be a webcast. This is a live event only.
SESSION ITINERARY
Session 1 • Introduction and Overview
Tuesday, April 5 • 7–9pm • Tibet House US
An introduction to and overview of the ethics of each of the three Vehicles. In addition to covering key specifics of each, we will explore how the Vehicles form a coherent, systematic progression, enabling practitioners to build on and expand their ethical understandings and commitments as they mature through the Vehicles.
Session 2 • Individual Vehicle Ethics
Thursday, April 7 • 7–9pm • Jewel Heart NY
This session will focus on developing deeper, more nuanced and practical understandings of the foundational exoteric attitudes and practices of “renunciation,” taking refuge, and love and compassion, as well as the goal of attaining individual liberation (from addiction and suffering), which form the basis of all Buddhist ethics and practice.
Session 3 • Universal Vehicle Ethics
Tuesday, April 12 • 7–9pm • Tibet House US
This session will focus on the mature exoteric Universal attitudes, practices, and perspectives of great compassion, altruistic mind training (lo jong), the spirit of awakening (bodhicitta), and the six perfections (pāramitā) of generosity, ethics, tolerance, vigilance, meditation, and wisdom.
Session 4 • Tantric Vehicle Ethics
Thursday, April 14 • 7–9pm • Jewel Heart NY
This session will focus on the advanced esoteric Universal perspectives and practices of cultivating the buddha-identity and pure perception that support and constitute Tantric ethics and accelerated techniques for achieving buddhahood.
Dr. Tom Yarnall is an Associate Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Religion at Columbia University in New York. As a teacher he specializes in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, teaching courses in Buddhist history, philosophy, ethics, and contemplative sciences, and in Tibetan and Sanskrit languages. As a researcher he works with the Columbia Center for Buddhist Studies (CCBS) and the Columbia-affiliated American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS), serving as the Executive Editor for the “Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences” series of translations of works from the Tibetan Tengyur (and associated literature), being co-published by AIBS, CCBS, and Tibet House US, and being distributed by Columbia University Press.
Dr. Yarnall began his engagement with Buddhism almost 40 years ago (in the late 70s), studying intensively with Tibetan Lamas from all four orders (including H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Sakya Dagchen Rinpoche, Ven. Dezhung Rinpoche, and many others), while earning a B.A. in Religion (Buddhist Studies) at Amherst College in 1983. He later enrolled in the graduate program in Religion (Buddhist Studies) at Columbia University, earning an M.A., an M.Phil., and Ph.D. (with honors) in 2003. Dr. Yarnall’s own scholarly work has focused on Mādhyamika philosophy, Buddhist ethics, and especially on Indian and Tibetan Tantric materials of the Unexcelled Yoga class. His study and translation of the creation stage chapters of Tsong Khapa’s Great Treatise on the Stages of Mantra (sngags rim chen mo) was published in the “Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences” series in 2013. His forthcoming book, entitled The Emptiness that is Form: The Nonconceptual Embodiment of Buddhahood, contains a detailed analysis and study of the relationship between the view of emptiness and practice of deity yoga in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Tantra.
New York Programs Winter 2016
Sundays with Gelek Rimpoche
JOIN US FOR
SUNDAY TEACHINGS WITH
KYABJE GELEK RIMPOCHE
WEEKLY at 11am
OPEN TO ALL – FREE OF CHARGE
We look forward to seeing you onsite at Jewel Heart in Ann Arbor and online via Go To Webinar.
To join via webinar use the link or visit GoToWebinar with ID below:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5231911003373495810
Please log in early and set up before Rimpoche begins. This link and ID is valid for this new series of Rimpoche’s Sunday teachings regardless of attending one or all. Please send your questions, comments and feedback to:[email protected] or contact: 734 489 4919.
Stay tuned to Rimpoche’s calendar and the broadcast calendar for the ongoing schedule. To become a Jewel Heart webcast subscriber and access the vast archive of teachings by Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche, visit http://www.jewelheart.org/webcast-subscription/
Jewel Heart New York Children’s Program
Sundays March 20, April 24, May 22
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
$20/family/session
Registration at the door; No drop-offs please
Jewel Heart is offering a once-a-month program to explore mindfulness and its practices for children and their families. The program will be held on four Sundays from 11am to 12:30pm beginning March 20 at the Jewel Heart New York Center at 260 W. Broadway entrance St. John’s Lane in Tribeca.
The program is designed for children ages 5-12. We will use a combination of games, discussions, art projects and basic meditation exercises to explore aspects of attention, emotion, awareness and compassion. The sessions will involve parents and caregivers and provide them with strategies to support mindfulness at home.
The program will be presented by Heidi Marben, PsyD. Heidi is a child psychologist who teaches mindfulness at Trinity School in New York City. Heidi will be assisted by Jewel Heart students Nina Ritter and Mark Magill.
To register or for more information, please contact Saara Cohen at [email protected] or Nina Ritter at [email protected]
Thursday Night Group White Tara Practice
Thursdays, 7:00 PM
February 18, 25; March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
We are delighted to announce that our Thursday night group White Tara practice will resume in 2016. White Tara, healing protector and mother goddess of Tibetan Buddhism, is called upon around the world by those in need of healing guidance and safe-keeping. Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche, like many Gelugpa lamas, has a particularly close connection with White Tara and has taught numerous facets of the White Tara practice over the past 3 decades in the West.
This practice is open to everyone, including beginners. The group practice will be facilitate by Fredericka Foster and Edwina Williams.
Other Upcoming Events
HH Drikung Kyabgon will visit in May
HH Drikung Kyabgon is the Supreme Head of the Drikung Kagyu tradition. We are honored to have him visit in May. More detail can be found here.
Retreats
JEWEL HEART SUMMER RETREAT
Saturday, May 28 through Saturday, June 4
Jewel Heart International, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Morning check-in, retreat begins early Saturday afternoon.
Open to all. Details to come.
2016-17 Tsoh Dates
Please follow this link for a complete calendar of Fire Monkey 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.
The SIX YOGAS OF NAROPA are perhaps the most widespread approach to completion stage tantric practice in Tibet. Originally transmitted from Naropa to his Tibetan disciple Marpa, the lineage was quickly absorbed by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Glenn, who has published two books on the tradition, originally received the oral transmission of the Six Yogas as part of his studies and training in Dharamsala between 1972 and 1992. The workshop is open to everyone, although anyone wishing to seriously pursue the practice should eventually seek out the empowerments associated with the tradition.
Participation is available both onsite at Jewel Heart NY and via Webinar.
Jewel Heart New York – 260 W. Broadway, NYC, NY 10013
Glenn Mullin is a Tibetologist, Buddhist writer, translator of classical Tibetan literature, and teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation. He lived in the Indian Himalayas between 1972 and 1984, and studied philosophy, literature, meditation, yoga, and the enlightenment culture under 35 of the greatest living masters of the 4 schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He is author of over 30 books on Tibetan Buddhism, founded and directed the Mystical Arts of Tibet, and has curated a number of important Tibetan art exhibitions.
Event Fee: $50 – Registration required for both onsite and webinar attendance.
REGISTER for this event here.
Questions? Write [email protected] or call 734 994 3387 x 221.
Glenn Mullin Teaches in Michigan the 2nd Week of February
On February 12, 13, and 15 Glenn Mullin returns to Jewel Heart with teachings ranging from the female buddhas, to tantric guidelines, to tips from the early Dalai Lamas. Don’t miss this opportunity. For information on attending in-person or via webinar, please follow this link.
Mandala Offering Workshop
Thursday, February 11, 7:00 PM
Our old friend and fellow New Yorker, Sonam Dhargye, has returned from India and will be conducting a mandala offering workshop at the Jewel Heart New York center on Thursday, February 11 at 7:00 PM. If you plan to attend, please contact us via e-mail ([email protected]) to register.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about this profound offering practice from a great ritual master of the Gyuto Tantric Monastery!
In 1959, at the age of four, Sonam Dhargye escaped from Tibet in the company of Gelek Rimpoche. At the age of 14 he entered the Gyuto Tantric Monastery and as a young monk he was recognized for his extraordinary talents in the ritual arts. In 1966 Dhargye was honored to be selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the youngest chant master in the history of the Gyuto Monastery, which was founded in the 15th century. Later he mastered the other tantric rituals of sand painting and butter sculpture
In the 1980’s and 90’s he was part of a religious arts tour titled Sacred Music, Sacred Dance sharing the stage with Philip Glass, Paul Simon, Patti Smith and many others.
As religious assistant to his mentor, Gelek Rimpoche, Sonam Dhargye continues to offer his talents and skills in preparing and conducting ceremonies and ritual workshops in Gelek Rimpoche’s Jewel Heart Centers around the world. He currently lives in New York.