May Events: Practicing with Clarity and Openness

Dear Dharma Friends, As we move into May, we continue our shared practice with steadiness and curiosity. This month, we are also happy to begin a new four-part course with Lama Rina Otero, offering a deeper look into the nature of mind and experience. We look forward to another month of practicing together, gently, consistently, and with good heart. Yours in Dharma, KTC SoCal

• May 7 – Lama Karma Drodhul: Chenrezig Practice An open-hearted practice cultivating compassion for all beings.
• May 9 – Mindfulness Mediation
  In person.
• May 14 – Lama Rina Otero: Actuality of Being – Dzogchen and Mahamudra Perspectives A new four-part series exploring how we relate to thoughts, emotions, and confusion, and how these experiences can become a gateway to awareness, compassion, and clarity.
• May 21 – Lama Kathy Wesley: Getting Familiar with Your Mind Meditation and discussion for cultivating inner awareness and stability.
• May 28 – Thursday Night Mindfulness Meditation (Zoom) Silent sitting, simple structure, shared presence.

May 7 Lama Karma – Chenrezig Practice

Join us with Lama Karma as he guides us in Chenrezig Practice, a profound meditation cultivating compassion and lovingkindness. Chenrezig, known as Avalokiteshvara, embodies compassion in Tibetan Buddhism. Through this practice, we tap into the limitless wellspring of compassion, extending it to all sentient beings. It’s a beautiful opportunity to nurture our hearts, deepen our connection with others, and foster positive change in the world. Whether you are new to this practice or have practiced it before, everyone is welcome to participate.

May 9 Mindfulness Meditation Class

Join Dr. Charles Dawes, senior meditation practitioner and KTC SoCal Board member, every first Saturday in Desert Hot Springs for instruction on practicing mindfulness meditation. Class is held at 11 am, Hidden Springs Country Club, Community Center Clubhouse, 14912 Yerxa Rd, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240. Class is free, open to all, reservations not required.

May 14 Lama Rina – Actuality of Being: Dzogchen and Mahamudra Perspectives

Dzogchen and Mahamudra meditation is practiced in order to bring forth what is latent or hidden in our subconscious or unconscious. It is used to bring forth what is already there. These emotions, prejudices, attitudes, and disturbances have a direct or indirect effect on our lives. When experiencing fear, anger, jealousy, or other strong emotions, we become caught in habitual patterns of thought and behavior, and pulled into a cycle of reactivity that often leads to unskillful actions or words that reinforce our emotional entrapments. This moment of confusion is pivotal because, while it is a natural part of the human experience, it also presents an opportunity for awareness and transformation. Without these opportunities, there is no path to greater awareness or the cessation of suffering. Based on foundational Buddhist teachings, we will explore those habitual patterns, embracing uncertainty as a gateway towards personal growth and wisdom, and learn to work with confusion through sitting meditation and post-meditation experiences, to gain insight into our habitual patterns, work with our fears, cultivate a deeper sense of compassion, and discover how to step into the unknown with openness, clarity, and confidence. Lama Rina Otero studied with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche beginning in the 1970s and was authorized as a meditation instructor and program coordinator within the Shambhala tradition. She completed the traditional three-year, three-month retreat at His Holiness the Karmapa’s retreat center under the guidance of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. Alongside her Dharma training, she has had a long career in educational consulting and school leadership in the U.S. and Canada.

May 21 Lama Kathy Wesley – Getting Familiar with Your Mind: Meditation Practice and Discussion.

Lots of people are meditating these days, which is wonderful, since the practice can help reduce anxiety and promote positive change in our minds and lives. And getting tips and pointers can help us work through the rough spots and deepen our understanding of ourselves. Using Thrangu Rinpoche’s short book, “A Guide to Shamatha and Vipashyana Meditation,” Lama Kathy will offer tips and sit with us to encourage us to get familiar with ourselves and create space for positive inner change.

May 28 Thursday Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation Session on Zoom, led by Darby Burmayer-Wright. We will begin with a brief welcome and simple instructions, followed by Refuge prayers, a period of silent meditation, and an optional group discussion.Everyone is warmly welcome, whether you are new to meditation or an experienced practitioner.

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. We encourage you to keep your video on as much as you’re comfortable. Seeing each other’s faces helps create a sense of presence and connection in the space we’re sharing today. 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. If you have more in-depth questions, we can arrange an interview with the teacher.

Inspirational Quote: Sometimes we have fleeting glimpses of the nature of mind. These can be inspired by an exalting piece of music, by the serene happiness we sometimes feel in nature, or by the most ordinary everyday situation. They can arise simply while watching snow slowly drifting down, or seeing the sun rising behind a mountain, or watching a shaft of light falling into a room in a mysteriously moving way. Such moments of illumination, peace, and bliss happen to us all and stay strangely with us. I think we do, sometimes, half understand these glimpses. But then, modern culture gives us no context or framework in which to comprehend them. Worse still, rather than encouraging us to explore them more deeply and discover where they spring from, we are told in both obvious and subtle ways to shut them out. We know that no one will take us seriously if we try to share them. So we ignore what could be really the most revealing experiences of our lives, if only we understood them. This is perhaps the darkest and most disturbing aspect of modern civilization—its ignorance and repression of who we really are . Rigpa Glimpse of the Day Teaching Link: Meditation and Yoga for Everyday Life with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche