Dear Members and Dharma Friends, As the year ends, we extend warm wishes of joy and peace to all of you. Let this season be a reminder to cultivate kindness and understanding toward one another, and may the holiday season and the upcoming New Year bring you moments of serenity, gratitude, and connection. Looking ahead to the new year, we are thrilled to announce exciting events with visiting teachers, and we hope to see you all as we conclude this year with gratitude and anticipation for the possibilities that the next one holds. We wish you a serene holiday season and a New Year filled with wisdom, compassion, and joy. Your Dharma Family at Santa Monica KTC Karmapa Khyenno!

• December 7 | Lama Karma – Guided Meditation
• December 14 | Lama Adam – Resilience and Resourcing on the Buddhist Path
• December 21 | Lama Kathy – Joy of Living Book Study

December 7 Guided Practice with Lama Karma

Lama Karma’s guidance carries a profound wisdom that touches the heart and calms the mind. This guided meditation will delve into inner stillness, cultivating mindfulness and self-awareness. Lama Karma will lead a reflective session, offering insights and answering questions. No matter your experience level, everyone is welcome to participate in this transformative gathering. Whether you are a longtime practitioner or new to meditation, we encourage you to embrace this opportunity to deepen your practice and connect with our compassionate community. Please join us tonight and be part of this enriching experience with Lama Karma. Let us come together, creating a space of tranquility, wisdom, and compassion as we embark on this guided meditation and reflection journey.

December 14 Resilience and Resourcing on the Buddhist Path with Lama Adam

Cultivating the ability to skillfully lean into discomfort is an undeniably vital factor in our progress on the Buddhist path. But bare ambition for awakening may mask counterproductive tendencies when we neglect to develop the balancing factor of a keen awareness of our resources and vulnerabilities. In this series, Lama Adam will share practical means to increase resilience on the path through discernment and compassion in our formal and post-meditation practice.

December 21 Joyful Wisdom Book study with Lama Kathy

Lama Kathy will teach Rinpoche’s illuminating perspective which addresses the timeless problem of anxiety in our everyday lives. “From the 2,500-year-old perspective of Buddhism,” Rinpoche writes, “every chapter in human history could be described as an ‘age of anxiety.’ The anxiety we feel now has been part of the human condition for centuries.” So what do we do? Escape or succumb? Both routes inevitably lead to more complications and problems in our lives. “Buddhism,” he says, “offers a third option. We can look directly at the disturbing emotions and other problems we experience as stepping stones to freedom. Instead of rejecting or surrendering to them, we can befriend them, working through them to reach an enduring authentic experience of our inherent Wisdom, confidence, clarity, and joy.”

ZOOM credentials for our regular sessions will remain the same: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87204694084 Phone +1 669 900 6833 Meeting ID: 872 0469 4084 Please be mindful, mute yourself, and keep questions to a maximum of two, concise and to the point. We can arrange an interview with the teacher if you have more in-depth questions.

Inspirational Quote:

External appearances appear to the mind, but they are just a construction of the mind; when they appear, the mind gives them a label. For that reason, even if outside things seem good, there is not actually a whole lot to be attached to. If they seem bad, there is nothing to feel aversion toward. Therefore if we want to be free of suffering and faults and find happiness and good qualities, the most important thing is to tame our mind and to be diligent about doing so. This is why we meditate and this is why there are mind instructions. Since the mind is root of everything and everything comes down to the mind, there is nothing more important than taming our mind, meditating on samadhi, and resting in equipoise.

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

Teaching Link:
Driving The Car of Suffering with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche