Blog

Buddhism and the Path of Service

In November 2016, Vajrapani Institute invited me to do a presentation for their Buddhism in Action webseries on the topic “The Path of Service and How Not To Help.” Most of my material is sourced from Dr. Isa Gucciardi, founder and director of the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, and ...
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The Refuge of Simplicity

The Refuge of Simplicity

People often ask me why I decided to ordain as a Buddhist nun. “Why did you choose to give up so much?” they ask. “Isn’t it hard? Why do you have to give up pleasure in order to be a nun?” The answer is simplicity. From March 2000 to July ...
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Healing Into Simple Living

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. These words were first published back in August 1973 by E.F. Schumacher, a British economist with a deep interest in Buddhism. They ...
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Angelika Walker

Millennial Perspectives on Spirituality

We live in a culture that idolizes and glamorizes youth, but being young in today’s world is not always easy. Stress, self-hatred, self-consciousness and confusion in the face of the seemingly limitless possibilities new technologies have made available to us are just a few of the challenges facing the millennial ...
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Youth and the Three Dimensions of Social Space

Youth and the Three Dimensions of Social Space

Young Muslims from North America and Europe leaving home to join ISIS, much to their parents’ alarm. Several years ago, college students joining the Occupy movement in large numbers. Urban youth joining street gangs with strict codes of honor and loyalty. Do these phenomena have anything in common? Dimensions of ...
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Planting the Seeds of Enlightenment

Planting the Seeds of Enlightenment

Just over a year ago, when Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Center in Canada requested me to continue as resident teacher as my initial three-year commitment was finishing, Lama Zopa Rinpoche decided that, instead of that option or any of the others available to me at the time, moving to Vajrapani Institute ...
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Spirituality for Kids “Lama Yeshe Style”

Spirituality for Kids “Lama Yeshe Style”

According to the Buddhist worldview we have all been reincarnating since beginningless time, a rather mind-bending thought! Nevertheless, even though this means we come into the world with a great deal of preconditioning, and not as “blank slates,” it is well-known that the influences we are exposed to in childhood ...
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The Power of Teen Camp

The Power of Teen Camp

The following article appeared as part of Vajrapani Institute's 2015 Annual Report The Wise Heart Teen Camp officially started in the Summer of 2014, however it had it beginnings in the the “teen tracks” taking place during Wise Heart Family Camp. Within this ten-year span, huge shifts in technology and ...
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Transforming Adversity

Transforming Adversity

A key Mahayana Buddhist approach to eradicating problems is the practice of Thought Transformation (Lojong in Tibetan). This practice, when viewed without some understanding of Buddhist ideas, can seem quite bizarre and even counterproductive. It is a practice and theory where one uses problems, difficulties and challenges as an actual ...
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One Dharma: Two dynamic monastics share their traditions

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of living in this current era in a country where freedom of religion is still strongly upheld, is the opportunity to explore and grow, courtesy of the dazzling array of jewels brought to us by the world’s different wisdom traditions. For centuries, largely due ...
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Cultivating Inner Strength

Teaching by Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi for Shantideva Meditation Center in New York, NY on May 29, 2015 Related Events The Bodhisattva and the Arahant: One Dharma ...
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Confessions of an Activist Nun

Confessions of an Activist Nun

Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi, our resident teacher, shares stories and insights from a Dharma journey that brought her back to Vajrapani Institute for the third time in late 2015. I want to offer the whole package ... I don’t want to ignore the ultimate goals of Buddhism, which really are Liberation ...
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Upcoming Retreats

Online: Bodhicitta, Mind Training and Mahamudra

Venerable René Feusi

May 9 - November 7, 2023
ZOOM CLASS ONLY When Tuesdays, 9:00am – 10:45am (Pacific Time) Begins Tuesday May 9 and will repeat every Tuesday for several months (ending date TBD)     Hosting & Registration Please note this program is being advertised here but hosted by some volunteers outside of Vajrpani Institute.  To register simply fill out the google form at this Registration Link. Once you register you will be added to the email list and the zoom link will be sent out through that list.  Additionally, a reminder will be sent before the session with information on how to access the Zoom meeting. Please…

Six Session Guru Yoga

Bhikshuni Lozang Yönten

July 7 - 9, 2023
The six-session yoga practice is a way of helping us to fulfill our commitments from anuttarayoga tantra initiation, by reminding us of the vows that we’ve taken and also the nineteen samaya to make a close connection with the five Buddha-families, which deal with the various aspects of Buddha-nature.   The Six Session Guru Yoga practice is given to those who have taken a highest yoga tantra empowerment — with the mandate to do it for life. But why is this practice so important, and how do we keep it alive and fresh day after day, year after year?  …

Vajrapani Institute is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition www.FPMT.org