Archive

Two Lectures July 1 & 2, here 2014, “Dreams and Body Symptoms” by Irina Zingerman, Ph.D.

Dreams and body symptoms Lectures July 1st and 2nd 2-14
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Course in the Vajra Dance of the Three Vajras, June 20-22, 2014

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With Carisa O’Kelly, authorized Vajra Dance instructor

In the Dozgchen teaching, Vajra means our real nature, the true condition of all phenomena. The Vajra Dance is an important method using sound and movement for integrating the three aspects of our existence–body, energy, and mind–in that knowledge. The Vajra Dance is also a very special and effective practice for restoring the natural condition of our energy and harmonizing our whole being.

In the Dance of the Three Vajras, twelve practitioners, six dancing male aspect and six dancing female aspect, dance together on a Mandala of five colors which represents the correspondence between the internal dimension of the individual and the outer dimension of the world. They are accompanied by music and the chanted melody of the Mantra of the Three Vajras.

Dzogchen Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu introduced the Vajra Dance to his students in 1990. Since then it has been practiced in centers of the Dzogchen Community and various other places around the world.

Recently Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche indicated that those who had not yet received transmission but were interested to learn the Dance of the Three Vajras could do so after they had learned the Dance of the Six Spaces of Samantabhadra.

Prima Mai, one of the two main international instructors of the Vajra Dance, has reminded us that “it is always beneficial also for practitioners who know and already practice the Dance to repeat a course,” even if it is a beginning course. “Through this, one can better understand the other part and correct oneself and all becomes more precise and beneficial in the relative and absolute sense.” Practitioners are encouraged to discover in a fresh way; she explained that “often there are many surprises and it is never as one thinks it is.”

Schedule
Friday, June 20 6:30 – 8:30pm
Saturday, June 21 10am – 12noon, 3 – 5pm
Sunday, June 22 10am – 12noon, 3 – 5pm
(followed by Dakini Day Ganapuja)

Cost
$100 for all five sessions; or $20 drop-in per session for those who already know this dance

Attendance
Please contact Carisa at cariokey@monkeybrains.net for questions regarding attendance. Please bring clean socks or soft-soled shoes that you will use only for dancing on the Mandala. Practice times before and after teaching sessions may be arranged according to participants’ interest.

Register
Please contact Kathleen at k.macdougall@att.net

Location
Dondrubling, 2748 Adeline St., Suite D (upstairs)
Berkeley CA 94703

Tibetan medicine and Yantra Yoga Courses, May 2014

Yantra yoga-group

Prevention in Tibetan Medicine

Wellness Practices thru Diet, Lifestyle, Yantra Yoga, and the Seasons

Friday, May 16 7 – 9pm

This free public talk by Matt Schmookler, an authorized Yantra Yoga instructor and graduate of Shang Shung Institute’s four-year Tibetan Medicine program, will introduce traditional Tibetan wellness practices.

 

Beginners Yantra Yoga with Matt Schmookler

Saturday, May 17 10am – 12:30pm, 4 – 6pm

Sunday, May 18 10am – 12:30pm, 4 – 6pm

This introduction to Yantra Yoga will focus on complete breathing and the preliminary practices, and serves as the foundation for further study and practice. Yantra Yoga’s unique series of positions and movements, combined with conscious breathing, can help coordinate and harmonize one’s personal energy and let the mind relax and find its authentic balance, which is the basis for contemplation.

Fee: $80 for 4 sessions, $20 per session (sliding scale available)

 

Intermediate Yantra Yoga Course with Luke Karamol

Saturday, May 24 9:30 – 12noon, 2 – 4:30pm

Sunday, May 25 9:30 – 12noon, 2 – 5pm

In this course, we will review the foundations and preliminaries of Yantra Yoga and then focus on the first two series of Yantras and the Pranayamas of the second series.

Fee: $120 for 4 sessions, $30 per session (sliding scale available)

For more information or to register please contact Luke at lotusblossomkiss@yahoo.com

Harmonious Breathing with Fabio Andrico

Tue, April 1, 2014, 6 – 9:30pm
Fabio is back in the Bay Area to lead an Open Course of Yantra Yoga Teacher Training and has generously offered to teach a Breathing course at Dondrubling as well! Fabio will explain simple and effective exercises that will deepen and clarify the student’s experience of naturally relaxed, harmonious breathing. This breathing method, inspired by Andrico’s knowledge of the ancient Tibetan tradition of Yantra Yoga, is an invaluable tool for finding relaxation balance and harmony in everyday life.
Suggested donation $15 (or more)

World Wide Transmission of Garab Dorje with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Anniversary of Garab Dorje

Saturday March 15, 8:00 PM

There will be three explanation sessions prior to the transmission:
First Explanation Session – March 4, Tuesday 7:00 to 8:30 PM
Second Explanation Session – March 15, Saturday 6:00 to 7:30 PM
World Wide Garab Dorje Transmission – March 15, Saturday 8:00PM

Please arrive promptly by 7:30 for the transmission.

painting of Garab Dorje, the first human Dzogchen master

The Importance of Transmission in the Dzogchen Tradition

The transmission of knowledge from teacher to student can be oral, symbolic or direct. The uniqueness of the Dzogchen teaching is the direct transmission or “direct introduction”. In direct transmission the Dzogchen Master and the student find themselves in the primordial state at the same moment through one of the experiences related to body, voice or mind.

Due to the power of the transmission, the student is able to discover his or her own real condition in this way. Newcomers who want to participate at this Transmission, should be seriously interested in the Teachings of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and should try to receive his Teachings in the future.
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu offers direct introduction three times a year, on the Anniversaries of Garab Dorje, Guru Padmasambhava, and Adzom Drukpa. In order to make it possible for people who cannot attend a retreat or come to a direct introduction in person, these direct transmissions are also offered by live Internet webcast.

If you have never participated in a transmission with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu or if you wish to renew your understanding of Worldwide Transmission, we recommend attending the explanation session in order to receive the greatest benefit from it.

The Dzogchen Master Garab Dorje “was the first master of Dzogchen, who himself received transmission through direct visionary contact with the Sambhogakaya. Dzogchen teachings were taught for the first time on this planet in this time cycle by Garab Dorje, who manifested a birth in a Nirmanakaya form as a human being in the third century B.C.E., in the country of Ogyen, which was situated to the north west of India. He spent his life there teaching to both human beings and the dakinis. His final teaching before he entered the Body of Light was to summarise the teachings in Three Principles, sometimes known as “The Three Last Statements of Garab Dorje.” He left behind this testament for all the Dzogchen practitioners of the future. The Three Statements of Garab Dorje are: “Introduce in the state directly” refers to the transmission by the master, who, in various ways, introduces and brings the disciple to understand the condition of “what is”, the individual’s primordial state. This is the Base. “Do not remain in doubt” means that one must have a precise knowledge of this state, finding the state of the presence of contemplation which is one and the same in all the thousands of possible experiences. This is the Path. “Continue in the profound knowledge of self-liberation” is the Fruit. That means, the complete and unchangeable knowledge of self-liberation is totally integrated with one’s daily life and in all circumstances one continues in that state. All the hundreds and hundreds of original texts of Dzogchen can be considered to be an explanation of these three verses of Garab Dorje.”

–From “The Crystal and the Way of Light” and “Dzogchen, the Self-Perfected State” – by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Fabio

Yantra Yoga Teacher Certification Training II

This YANTRA YOGA course is designed for those who are already teachers of any yoga tradition, or for advanced yoga practitioners (of any tradition).

Yantra Yoga is one of the oldest recorded systems of yoga in the world. It has come to us by way of Tibet, a land that holds a vast, rich Buddhist knowledge and heritage. Yantra Yoga’s unique series of positions and movements, combined with conscious breathing, can help coordinate and harmonize one’s personal energy so that the body and mind can relax and find their authentic, natural balance.

In this first part of Yantra Yoga teachers’ certification training, internationally renowned senior Yantra Yoga instructor Fabio Andrico helps participants discover the real essence of this potent and transformative practice by clarifying its rich theory and technique.

The training includes:

How to practice and teach the preliminaries
Physical training
The first two series of Yantras.

Additionally, a general introduction to Buddhism and Yoga will be offered, as well as a presentation on the underlying theories of the Tibetan Healing Arts as related to Yantra Yoga. Special attention will be given to participants to assure precise execution and understanding of the material.

Recommended reading and viewing:

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, Yantra Yoga: The Tibetan Yoga of Movement (Snow Lion)
DVDs Tibetan Yoga of Movement: Perfect Rhythm of Life and Breathe: Perfect Harmony of Breathing with Fabio Andrico and Yamila Diaz.

Cost: $345
This program is eligible for 30.5 continuing education credits for 500 hour program.

Please bring a yoga mat and eat lightly before opening night.

Schedule:
Wednesday 3/26/14 – Sunday 3/30/14
10am – 5pm each day

Location:
Yoga Tree Mission
24 Shotwell St
San Francisco, CA 94103

Fabio Andrico is an internationally recognized expert on the unique tradition of Tibetan yoga known as Yantra Yoga, from the lineage of the renowned Tibetan translator and Dzogchen master Vairocana. He studied directly under the great Tibetan cultural scholar and Dzogchen master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, who learned this potent and transformative form of yoga from his uncle, yogi Togden Ugyen Tenzin. Fabio is both a hatha yoga and Yantra Yoga instructor, as well as an authorized trainer of Yantra Yoga teachers. Born and raised in Italy, he teaches Yantra Yoga internationally to groups of up to 700 participants in venues on six continents.
With online registration you are reserving one spot in the workshop. To reserve for additional students, please contact the studio where the workshop will be held.

ALL WORKSHOPS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Fabio Andrico has been teaching Yoga internationally for over 30 years. He is famous for using great skill, clear precision, and delightful humor to help students deepen their practice and understanding of yoga. He began his yoga career in the mid-seventies, when he studied Sivananda Yoga during a trip to India. In the following years, Fabio was exposed to many different yoga traditions. He ultimately met his teacher, Dzogchen Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, and had the rare opportunity to learn the Tibetan tradition of Yantra Yoga directly from this lineage holder.

Fabio is both a Hatha Yoga and Yantra Yoga instructor, as well as an authorized trainer of Yantra Yoga teachers. He teaches Yantra Yoga internationally to groups of up to 700 participants in venues on six continents, and has appeared in yoga DVDs including The Eight Movements of Yantra Yoga, BreAthe, and Tibetan Yoga of Movement: Perfect Rhythm of Life Levels 1 & 2, received rave reviews in Yoga Journal, and collaborated on the book Yantra Yoga: the Tibetan Yoga of Movement.

Just Added: Guest lectures open to the public at Yoga Tree Mission — San Francisco

Professor Steven D. Goodman, Director of Research and Core Faculty in Asian and Comparative Studies, Philosophy and Religion Department, California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco will give a lecture on Buddhism and Yoga at Yoga Tree in San Francisco, Friday March 28th from 3:30-5pm.

Steven is also Advisor to Khyentse Foundation (khyentsefoundation.org), a founding member of the Working Committee of 84000, Translating the Words of the Buddha (84000.co), and Board member of the Buddhist Film Foundation.  Cost is $15

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

 

Adam Okerblom will discuss elemental humor theory from the Tibetan Medicine system Saturday 3/29, 3:30pm
Feel free to come and join!
Fee is $15

Adam Okerblom is a Certified Practitioner of Traditional Tibetan Medicine. He graduated from the Shang Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine in 2012, with a Four-Year Diploma. Adam also completed a clinical internship at the Tso Ngon Tibetan Medicine Hospital, and received Certificates from the Tso Ngon Tibetan Medicine School and Qinghai University in Amdo, Tibet. During these studies Adam had the fantastic honor to receive teachings from many lauded Tibetan Physicians.  He studied the Four Tantras of Tibetan Medicine with Dr Phuntsog Wangmo, and Dr Tenzin Dakpa.  Adam received the oral “Lung” transmission of the Four Tantras from the famous Dr. Losang “Acu” Nyima.  He received the empowerment and transmission of the practice of the Medicine Buddha from his Root Teacher, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu.

Adam currently practices Tibetan Medicine in the East Bay area, California.  He specializes in Kunye massage and external therapies.

guru_dragphur

World Wide 24 hour Guru Dragphur Practice

Sunday February 9, 2014 12 – 4 PM

The Dzogchen Community of Dondubling will participate in the last four hours of 24 hour World Wide Intensive Guru Dragphur Practice.

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The practice of Guru Dragphur is a gift from the heart of Rinpoche to his students. Guru Dragphur has the potentiality to control all negative energies, especially negative forces and provocations by various classes of beings, and eliminate obstacles for practitioners through manifestation.

It is also a Guruyoga practice through which we can discover and overcome all doubts so that we can be without interruption in our real enlightened state.

Please join us!

How to participate in the practice. For each hour, there will be a practitioner who will lead the practice. Try to come 10 to 15 minutes before the hour if you can to help the person who is leading. Otherwise you can join at any time during the practice.

1. Sign in when you first arrive.

2. Start with a usual preliminary practice through the Refuge and Bodhicitta, silently under the breath, since there will be others who are already doing the practice.

3. Guru Yoga, as in Short Tun (with one or three A), silently with the breath.

4. Transform as a Guru Dragphur (with one or three Hum), silently with  the breath.

5. Finish with a dedication when ready.

6. The person who is doing the last hour will do the Dogpa, and finish with a dedication.

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Public Talk & Video Presentation on Vajra Dance

With Carisa O’Kelly, Authorized Instructor

January 23, 2014 7:30 – 9 pm

The Vajra Dance is a very special and effective practice for restoring the natural condition of our energy and harmonizing our whole being.
Everyone can benefit from practicing the Vajra Dance, both dancers and non-dancers alike. Once we learn the basic steps and movements we can begin to enter into the practice. Dzogchen Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu introduced the Vajra Dance to his students in 1990 for the first time. Come and enjoy this informal presentation and learn more about Vajra Dance. Refreshments will be served and there will be time for Q&A. Those interested may sign up to attend the weekend course starting on Friday evening.

Gakyil Election and Community Meeting

January 12, 2014  12 noon – 2 pm

The Dzogchen Community West Coast invites you to our annual gakyil election on January 12th 2014. We are looking for three, six, or nine practitioners to take on the operations of our dear Dondrubling, as well as anyone who has a good idea and wants to contribute in any capacity. Members who have project management, fundraising, grant writing, non-profit marketing or strategic planning expertise, we could really use your help charting the future of Dondrubling!
Light refreshments will be served.

What is the Gakyil?

The Gakyil is the chief governing body responsible for ensuring that the center is in line with Rinpoche’s vision performing long term planning, overseeing the well-being of the center and community, and providing financial oversight. The Gakyil is committed to serving the needs of the Dzogchen Community Community and maintaining healthy communication around center policies, strategies, and finances.

The management and organization of the various center and groups of the Dzogchen Community are taken care of by the Gakyil (“mandala of joy”), an entity made up of three sections (indicated by the colors yellow, red, and blue), which, according to an ancient Buddhist system, correspond to the three aspects of the individual (body, energy, and mind). The yellow Gakyil (linked to the body dimension) takes care of financial management, the red Gakyil (linked to the energy dimension) of activities and projects regarding maintenance and development of the center, and the blue Gakyil (linked to the mind dimension) of cultural activities and those linked to the practice, such as regularly scheduled practices,  retreats and courses. The Gakyil is a collective body without any type of hierarchy within it and decisions are taken by common agreement of all the members. There can be three, six, or nine Gakyil members, who are elected each year. Local Gakyils will work with International Gakyil that is in direct contact with the Master, and has the role of establishing management and coordination policies world-wide.

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Shitro & Guru Yoga Practice

Wednesday Evenings through February 11th, 2014 7 –  8:30 pm 

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A long time community member and committed practitioner, Kathy McGrane passed on Christmas Day. Kathy spent considerable time living in the Bay Area and was a dedicated member and supporter of Dzogchen Community West Coast.  We will be holding an on-going Shitro practice on Wednesday evenings, not only for Kathy, but for all loved ones and precious beings we have lost.

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Beginners Yantra Yoga Course with Luke Karamol

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