Winter Month long retreat on Vancouver Island

Winter Dathün

Meditation Retreat in the Pacific Northwest at Camp Pringle, Shawnigan Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C.

Dec. 8, 2007–Jan.5, 2008, with John Osajima

Dathün is a one-month residential meditation retreat designed for both beginning meditators and those wishing to deepen their practice. The focus will be the mindfulness-awareness practices of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. Included will be group sitting and walking meditation, private interviews with qualified meditation instructors, talks and contemplation. Reflecting the particular training of the director, this dathün will include various mind and body awareness exercises. There will be a short work session each day. Meals will be taken in Zen oryoki style. Periods of silence and functional talking will be observed.

Everyone is encouraged to attend the full dathün. However, if that is not possible, you're invited to come for one, two or three weeks.

John Osajima, a student in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition for 31 years, is a senior teacher and former head meditation instructor at the Berkeley Shambhala Center. He served as a meditation instructor for four dathüns and at several Meditation Instructor training programs. He regularly teaches Shambhala Training programs and the Maitri Space Awareness Program. He conducts Dharma Art workshops and classes in various settings. For several years John conducted weekly meditation classes at a County jail, a methadone clinic and at a half-way house for women.

Mahamudra Retreat

Camp Pringle, December 15–29, 2007, with Scott Wellenbach

The nature of mind teachings, known as Mahamudra in the Kagyu tradition, are considered the heart essence of all the teachings. Gampopa describes the path of mahamudra as the "single remedy that cures all." The Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche says that "if you recognize your mind's nature, that, in itself, is the recognition of everything else that is to be known." During this two-week Mahamudra retreat, guided by the seminal mahamudra text Pointing Out the Dharmakaya by Wangchuk Dorje, Karmapa IX, we will practice shamatha and vipashyana mahamudra to clarify and stablize our experience of the nature of mind.

Scott Wellenbach is a student of the Vidyadhara, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. As a member of the Nalanda Translation Committee he was a principal translator and editor of the mahamudra text, Pointing Out the Dharmakaya. He is also a co-director of Nitartha Institute, with particular responsibilty for translation projects. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Scott will be in residence from December 15 - 29.

Students and seniors (60 and older) receive a 10% discount.

To register, visit www.nelsonbuddha.com/dathun Phone: (604) 520-7611 e-mail: tyrunkle@telus.net

Maitreya Project Heart Shrine Relics Tour Coming to Victoria

Please Share this Information with other. This is a rare opportunity for people to view the precious Buddhist relics in our community and it is the goal of the Maitreya Project that as many people as possible can share the blessing energy of the Relics.

From loving kindness then you can achieve freedom!
By consciously having a good heart, we experience peace in ourselves and in our world.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Spiritual Director of the Maitreya Project

RARE BUDDHIST RELICS VISIT VICTORIA

A precious collection of sacred relics of the Buddha and many other Buddhist masters is currently touring the world. These relics were found among the cremation ashes of Buddhist masters. They resemble beautiful, pearl-like crystals. Buddhists believe relics embody the master’s spiritual qualities of compassion and wisdom and are deliberately produced by the master at his death.

Dates: August 23, 24 & 25, 2007

Times: Thursday 2pm Opening Ceremony (By Special Invitation)

Public Viewings:
Thursday 3pm to 7pm
Friday 10am to 7pm
Saturday 10am to 5pm

Location: Church of Truth, 111 Superior Street, Victoria (http://cot.seedwiki.com)

Cost: There is no admission charge to see the Relics. Donations to the Maitreya Project are gratefully appreciated. For more details about the Project, please visit: www.maitreyaproject.org. Please note that the Maitreya Project International is a registered charity.

Other Details: There will be Blessing Ceremonies throughout the event.

PUBLIC EVENTS relating to the Heart Shrine Relics Tour and its message of Loving Kindness and Peace held at the Church of Truth – Community of Conscious Living:

Wednesday, August 22^nd (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.), Dr. Anne MacDonald, Assistant Professor, Dept. of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, from the University of Vienna will give a talk on Love and Compassion and on the Historical Significance of the Relics.

Sunday Service at 11 a.m.:

August 5^th Maitreya Project and the Heart Shrine Relics Tour

An Informative Talk by Greg Skala

The Maitreya Peace Meditation recited by June Swadron

August 12^th One Story from the Life of the Buddha

Storytelling by Margo McLoughlin

August 19^th Special Sunday Program - Loving Kindness and Peace

Loving Kindness Blessing or Prayer by Venerable Ngakpa Kalzang Dorje

August 26^th Community Sunday

You will have the opportunity to share your experiences of the Buddhist relics, offer a prayer or wish for world peace, etc.

For additional information, please visit http://cot.seedwiki.com

H.H. Phakchok Rinpoche on Salt Spring Island

Dear Dharma Friends,

H.H. Phakchok Rinpoche will be returning to Vancouver and Salt Spring Island doing teachings between July 27-31. The focus of his teachings will be developing authentic compassion.

We do need volunteers to help run the event. So if you feel like helping, please email me at mara@zambalagifts.com or give me a call at 604-247-3323.

Dates and Times:

Friday, July 27, 7:30-9:30pm
Public Talk
Recognizing our True Nature
Centre for Peace, 1825 W. 16th Ave, Vancouver
Suggested Donation $10
What would life be like if we lived our lives from our essential goodness, filled with warm-hearted compassion. A talk to explore our lives and how to live them with more joy.

Saturday, July 28, 10am-5pm
A Meditation Workshop on the Path of Compassion
Centre for Peace, 1825 W. 16th Ave, Vancouver
Suggested Donation $60
Authentic great compassion has the unique qualities of being suffused with ineffable joy, happiness, gratitude, respect for others, and wisdom. It is free from regret, sadness, ulterior motives, and all the negativities that keep us down. As many great spiritual masters like His Holiness the Dalai Lama have said, if we truly want happiness we need to learn to admire, cultivate, and perfect great compassion.

The workshop will teach specific practices suitable for people of any faith from the Tibetan Buddhist traditon (shamatha and tonglen) to help develop our warm-heartedness, equanimity with what life throws at us, and increasing our joyfulness with great compassion. This workshop will be appropriate for beginners and more experienced students alike

Sunday July 29- SALT SPRING Island teachings
Salt Spring Island - 9:30am - 3:30pm "Path of Freedom" and "Three Master's songs of
advice". Contact matthewphyllis@telus.net for Salt Spring Island teachings

Monday, July 30, 9:30am - 5:00pm, Tuesday, July 31, 9am-3pm
Teachings on Vajrayogini
Centre for Peace, 1825 W. 16th Ave, Vancouver
Suggested Donation $60

Rinpoche will give the Vajrayogini empowerment again this year, and continue his teachings on the ngondro of this special Dzogchen Blue Vajrayogini terma of Khandro Kunga Boom. Pre-registration is required. Rinpoche will continue teaching the Dzogchen path of this terma over the next several years, and attendance at this years teachings will be required for future attendance.
For more information, please contact Mara Shnay at mara@zambalagifts.com or 604-247-3353

Phakchok Rinpoche is a fifth reincarnate High Lama, the son of Dechen Paldron, and Chokling Rinpoche who is recognized by the Karmapa as the fourth reincarnation of the great 19th-century tertön Chokgyur Lingpa Rinpoche. He is the grandson of Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche, widely acknowledged as one of the great meditation masters of modern times, famed for his profound meditative realization and for the concise, lucid and humorous style with which he imparted the essence of the Dzogchen teachings.

Recognized by the Kagyü regents and ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche has studied with the Dalai Lama himself as well as a number of great lamas including Khyentse Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche, Trulshik Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche.

An enthusiastic and vibrant young lama, His Holiness Phackchok Rinpoche's teachings are direct, accessible, and always fresh, opening up our minds in a playful and inspiring way. Phakchok Rinpoche is the abbot of a monastery in Chapagaon in the southern Kathmandu Valley, as well as head of Riwoche Monastery in Tibet's Dokham region.

Mara Shnay
604-247-3323
mara@zambalagifts.com

Vipassana Community Weekend Retreat August 18-19

Invitation to Participate in a Vipassana Non-Residential Weekend Retreat.

Vipassana mindfulness meditation involves cultivating a non-judgemental awareness of our moment to moment experience. It aims to free the mind from negativity and confusion. By seeing life as a constantly changing process, one learns to accept both the pleasurable and painful aspects of life with balance. This understanding leads to wisdom and compassion.


Dear Meditators,

Hope all is well in your world as we are blessed with this sunny summer weather......and wishing you many blessings of peace and ease of heart and mind.

I want to let you know about the upcoming vipassana non-residential weekend Aug 18-19 at Goward House, 2495 Arbutus Rd., 9-4:30 (door open at 8:30am). It will be appropriate for both new and experienced meditators, and will be taught by Heather Martin from Salt Spring Island.

Registration:
For registration for this summer retreat we simply ask you to reply to this email by emailing your name to Linda Chan at lindaschan@shaw.ca with your intention of coming.....we won't have you fill out a complete registration form this time and will experiment with how that goes. We encourage people to set aside both days for this retreat, although there will be space for people only able to do one day. If you are a new meditator and can only do one day it is suggested that Saturday would be the day to come and not Sunday as basic instructions will be given on Saturday. Please let Linda know if you are only coming for one day.


Cost:
We have been using the practice of generosity or dana (dana is the word for generosity from the language in the Buddha's time) to cover the costs of putting on the retreat over the past few years and will continue to do so (costs for rental, teacher's travel etc.) For your information, we suggest $30 for the weekend to cover our costs. Any extra money left over goes into a scholarship fund for folks in our community to do longer retreats who may have the interest, but not the funds to afford that. If the $30 is beyond your means, though, for the weekend that is fine.......please feel free to come and simply donate what feels within your means. There will be a basket out at the retreat for these donations. The teachings, themselves, are offered by the teacher freely, in the Buddhist tradition of over 2500 years. If you feel the teachings have been of value to you, there will be an opportunity to practise generosity or dana for the teachings at the end of the retreat and this money will go directly to the teacher. There will be a basket out at the retreat for this.....and more information will be provided about this at the retreat.


Teacher:
Heather Martin is in her final year of teacher training with Jack Kornfield of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, California. She began meditating in 1973, and has practiced Vipassana meditation in the Theravada tradition since 1981. She teaches on Salt Spring Island and in many places in the United States and Canada. Heather worked for 20 years as a midwife, and continues to teach Childbirth Preparation workshops in Vancouver.


Looking forward to seeing some of you there, warmly, Beth


Beth Trotter
Community Leader,
Victoria Vipassana Community