November Events

Dear Dharma Friends, We will continue our sessions with Lama Adam Berner and Lama Kathy Wesley this month. Lama Adam will guide us through his teachings on “On the Wings of Compassion.” Lama Kathy will lead the ongoing book study of Mingyur Rinpoche’s “Joyful Wisdom.” We’ll also resume our Chenrezig group practice. There will be no event on November 28 for Thanksgiving. We look forward to practicing and deepening our shared understanding and compassion as taught by the Buddha. Yours in Dharma, KTC SoCal

• November 7  | Chenrezig Practice
• November 14| Lama Adam – On the Wings of Wisdom and Compassion
• November 21| Lama Kathy – Joyful Wisdom Book Study

November 7 Chenrezig Practice

Chenrezig‘s practice is a profound meditation that cultivates compassion and lovingkindness. It is open to all and will be in English and Tibetan. We encourage everyone to participate and experience its transformative effects. Chenrezig, also known as Avalokiteshvara, embodies compassion in Tibetan Buddhism. Through this practice, we tap into the limitless wellspring of compassion and extend it to all sentient beings. It is a beautiful opportunity to nurture our hearts, deepen our connection with others, and bring positive change into the world. Regardless of your experience or familiarity with the practice, we welcome you to join us.

November 14 Lama Adam Berner – On the Wings of Wisdom and Compassion

Most of us begin meditation by learning to let go. Through practices such as calm-abiding meditation, we notice thoughts and concepts, then repeatedly train in letting them go. This is not a complete path to the rich experience of awakening, though, as our daily lives continually demonstrate that, in fact, there are plenty of things we do need to pick up. Discerning what is to be adopted and how to do so is, in many ways, the territory of Lojong, or “mind training”, which is best known for its hallmark practice of taking and sending (tong-len) and its list of 59 pithy slogans. This series of discussions will explore the Lojong teachings found in Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche’s Great Path of Awakening, as expanded on by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in his book Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness. With guided practice and discussion, we’ll extend our understanding of the relationship between compassion and non-conceptuality and why they are considered to be like the two wings of a bird, both necessary for us to take flight.

November 21 Lama Kathy Wesley – Joyful Wisdom Book Study

Lama Kathy Wesley will teach Joyful Wisdom, which addresses the timeless anxiety problem 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 starts at 6:15 PM PST with a 15-minute silent meditation; regular teaching begins at 6:30. Please be mindful when entering at that time.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81574392660

Phone
+1 669 900 6833
Meeting ID: 815 7439 2660

Ask questions via chat and keep them concise and to the point. We can arrange an interview with the teacher if you have more in-depth questions.

Inspirational Quote:

If we were to put our minds to one powerful wisdom method and work with it directly, there is a real possibility we would become enlightened.

Our minds, however, are riddled with confusion and doubt. I sometimes think that doubt is an even greater block to human evolution than is desire or attachment. Our society promotes cleverness instead of wisdom, and celebrates the most superficial, harsh, and least useful aspects of our intelligence. We have become so falsely “sophisticated” and neurotic that we take doubt itself for truth, and the doubt that is nothing more than ego’s desperate attempt to defend itself from wisdom is deified as the goal and fruit of true knowledge.

This form of mean-spirited doubt is the shabby emperor of samsara, served by a flock of “experts” who teach us not the open-souled and generous doubt that Buddha assured us was necessary for testing and proving the worth of the teachings, but a destructive form of doubt that leaves us nothing to believe in, nothing to hope for, and nothing to live by.

Rigpa Glimpse of the Day

Teaching Link:
Do You Need a Teacher? with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche