Nalandabodhi’s 7th Annual Winter Retreat – Dec 30 – Jan 2

Hosted by Nalandabodhi East Coast Centers

Nalandabodhi’s open Winter Retreat, traditionally held over “solar” New Years each year, is a time to look inward after a busy holiday season, get cozy in our homes with other participants cozy in theirs, reflect on our previous year,  renew our aspirations for the coming year, and awaken our hearts of loving kindness and compassion together. This year’s 7th annual winter retreat will focus on relative bodhicitta.

This retreat features teachings by Acharya Lhakpa Tsering, Mitra Tyler Dewar, Mitra Lee Worley, Mitra Mark Power, and Karunika Dan Hirshberg, as well as guided Space Awareness practice, meditation sessions, and Path of Mindful Activity workshops, all aimed at helping us bring relative bodhicitta to our meditation practice and daily life. Short sessions designed for children and their families (“Dawning of Bodhi”) will also be offered.

See the full schedule below

Teachers

Acharya Lhakpa Tsering

Acharya Lhakpa Tshering was born in Bhutan and entered monastic school at age 12. In 1993, he enrolled at Rumtek Monastery’s Karma Shri Nalanda Institute in Sikkim, India. During his final years as a student, he served as an assistant teacher and member of the student welfare committee.

In 2002, Acharya Lhakpa graduated with a masters in buddhist studies, also known as an acharya degree. After completing his studies, he served as co-librarian with Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche, as a teacher at Karma Shri Nalanda Institute, and as an editor for Nitartha Publications in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In 2006, Acharya Lhakpa moved to Nalanda West in Seattle, Washington, where he continues to support students as a resident teacher. He is also a visiting teacher at Nalandabodhi centers across the northeastern and central United States, as well as Brazil.

Mitra Tyler Dewar

Mitra Tyler was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been engaged in the study and practice of Buddhism since 1996, becoming a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche two years later. He began studying the Tibetan language in 1997, and became an oral interpreter and textual translator for Nitartha Institute and Nalandabodhi in 2000.

Tyler joined the faculty of Nitartha Institute in 2003 and was appointed as a senior teacher in Nalandabodhi in 2005. He has served as an oral interpreter for lineage-holding masters of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tyler enjoys teaching on such topics as the four immeasurables, and exploring how the great Buddhist forebears inspire and inform life in the 21st century.

A musician and singer, he has participated in the creation of several ‘melodized’ liturgies and ‘dharma songs.’ Tyler is the father of an amazing daughter and lives in Seattle, Washington.

Mitra Lee Worley

Mitra Lee Worley was born in Glen Cove, New York. She graduated from Mt. Holyoke College with a BA in English and Drama, and later from The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Her acting career led her to discover Buddhism in 1973 while attending a theater conference in Boulder, Colorado, where she was invited to teach acting at the Naropa Institute. While teaching, she began meditating and attending talks by Naropa’s founder Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

Lee met Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche at Naropa and became his student. She took on the role of practice coordinator in Boulder, and then of national practice coordinator for Nalandabodhi. Lee was appointed as a “Mitra” (Spiritual Friend) by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 2005, and currently oversees the Path of Meditation within the Mitra Council.

As a practitioner, Lee aims to be a champion of meditation both on and off the cushion. “I look for the truth that underlies the dharma,” she says, “and seek ways to bring it into moment-by-moment life beyond any dogma.” Lee is the author of two books: Coming From Nothing: the Sacred Art of Acting and Teaching Presence: Field Notes for Players.

Dan Hirshberg, PhD

Dan Hirshberg, PhD is an award-winning educator and scholar who completed his doctorate in Tibetan Studies at Harvard University. Having practiced and studied Buddhist contemplative traditions for nearly three decades, he has accumulated several thousand hours of formal meditation practice and traveled extensively throughout Asia. He serves as a Karunika (“compassionate” teacher) for the Nalandabodhi Tibetan Buddhist community.

 

Ellen Balzé, Path of Mindful Activity

Ellen became a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 2015 and began working with the Core Path of Mindful Activity Team in 2018. She is a clinical psychologist with a background in organizational consulting, and is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a form of psychotherapy based on Buddhist teachings. She has benefited greatly from opportunities (and reminders) to pause, relax, and reflect while collaborating with other East Coast Nalandabodhi members and folks across Nalandabodhi on retreats and other projects. She also enjoys baking bread and caring for succulents.

 

Laura McRae

Laura McRae has been a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche since 2005. Born in Los Angeles and educated in Houston, she is teacher of English and Creative Writing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her first full-length collection of poems, Were There Gazelle, appeared from Pedlar Press in spring of 2020.

 

 

 

 

Schedule

Download pdf version

Times are in Eastern Time (ET)

Download the PDF version for more timezones. Or convert it with worldtimebuddy

Thursday
2:30pm – 2:40pm Welcome and Orientation by Local and Zoom MC’s
2:40pm -3:00pm Opening Teaching by Acharya Lhakpa
3:00pm-4:15pm Mitra Mark Power Teaching Session 1
4:15pm-4:45pm Break
4:45pm-6:00pm Path of Mindful Activity

Friday
8:00am-9:00am Meditation Session
9:00am-9:30am   Break
9:30am-10:45am Mitra Mark Teaching Session 2
10:45am-11:00am Break
11:00am- 12:00pm Sharing about inmate students and Tara practice for them (Mind Without Borders)
12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch Break
1:30pm-2:30pm Mitra Lee Teaching & Meditation Session
2:30pm-3:00pm Tea Break
3:00pm-4:30pm Acharya Tashi Teaching Session 1

 Saturday
8:00am-9:00am Meditation Session
9:00am-9:30am   Break/Meditation
9:30am-10:45am Mitra Mark Teaching Session 3
10:45am-11:00am Break/Meditation
11:00am- 12:00pm Sharing about inmate students and Tara practice for them (Mind Without Borders)
12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch Break
1:30pm-1:45pm Brief Meditation
1:45pm-3:00pm Acharya Tashi Teaching Session 2
3:00pm-3:45pm Tea Break
3:45pm-4:45pm Mitra Lee Teaching & Meditation Session
4:45pm-5:00pm Break
5:00pm-6:30pm Mitra Dean Tyler Teaching and Practice Session, New Year Eve Teaching and “King Aspiration Prayer”

Sunday
Sunrise offering practice
8:00am-9:00am Meditation Session
9:00am-9:30am   Break/Meditation
9:30am-10:45am Mitra Mark Teaching Session 4
10:45am-11:00am Break/Meditation
11:00am- 12:15pm Path of Mindful Activity
12:15pm-12:30pm Closing and Thanking remarks

People’s financial situation should never be an issue to participate! Because of this we have a scholarship page for those in need of reduced pricing:
Click here if you need a scholarship for this retreat.
Use the password: W1nterRetre@t21!