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Teaching & Retreat Schedule

"The Abbey gives skies full of benefit to sentient beings because they can meet the Buddhadharma and hear teachings. There is nothing more important."

  Lama Zopa Rinpoche


Retreats & Courses at Sravasti Abbey (Español)

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_______________  January 2014  _______________


Young Adults Explore Buddhism (ages 18-29)
with Ven. Thubten Chodron
June 24 to July 1

Everyone around you seems to be in a hurry: trying to find the perfect job, the perfect partner, the perfect life. Is that what it means to lead a meaningful life? Instead of trying to get all your ducks lined up in a row, how about looking inside your heart?

Sravasti Abbey invites young adults aged 18 to 29 to explore the Buddha’s teachings within our American culture. No meditation experience is necessary; just an open and curious mind/heart.

The course includes meditation instructions and practice, teachings, discussions with like-minded peers, and working outdoors in beautiful woodlands, in northeastern Washington. Click here for a detailed program description.

A dana offering and registration form are requested to reserve your place for the retreat. Click here to download the registration form.

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Monday and stay through lunch on the following Monday.

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey

Click here to find out What to Bring.

Aryadeva's 400 Stanza on the Middle Way 
with Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe
July 9-15

Aryadeva, along with his spiritual master Nagarjuna, is credited with founding the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism, and his Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way is a fundamental text of Mahayana philosophy.

Renowned scholar and teacher Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe will teach the first four chapters, which address the four distortions—four ways in which, through ignorance, we misconceive reality.

The Abbey is honored to welcome Geshe Thabkhe to teach this profound text, with translation by well-known scholar Joshua Cutler.

Regarded as one of the most eminent scholars of both the Madhyamaka tradition and the Indian Buddhist studies, Geshe Thabkhe was born in 1930 in Tibet and became a monk at 13. After escaping to India, he earned the Geshe Lharampa degree at Drepung Loseling Monastery, and he currently teaches at the Central University of Tibetan Studies in India.

Geshe Thabkhe was a chief adviser on the translation of Lama Tsong-kha-pa’s “The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Lam Rim Chen Mo)” a major project undertaken by the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in New Jersey, through whose generosity he visits the Abbey this year.

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Monday and stay through lunch on the following Monday. Commuters also welcomed.

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey

Click here to find out What to Bring.

Text and commentary for this teaching can be found in Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas, published by Snow Lion.

The Power of Compassion: 
A meditation retreat with Ven. Thubten Chodron
July 26-28

“I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives," says His Holiness the Dalai Lama. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

We all want happiness, so if compassion is the key, where do we start? First we need to know precisely what it is, its advantages, its causes, and the exact steps for developing it. Compassion has the power to transform our lives. Compassion has the power to change the world. Join Ven. Thubten Chodron to learn how to nurture and grow the seeds of compassion that already exist in our own hearts.

A dana offering and registration form are requested to reserve your place for the retreat. Click here to download registration form.

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Friday and stay through Sunday 2:00 p.m..

For more information, email the office or call 509-447-5549.

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring

Exploring Monastic Life
with Ven. Thubten Chodron
August 9 – 26

Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron teaches from her 36 years of experience as a monastic. In addition to receiving daily teachings, you’ll be living and practicing as a member of the Sravasti Abbey community—engaging in meditation, discussion, and offering service to the community.

This retreat is for qualified lay people exploring the possibility of ordination, and for monks and nuns that have been ordained for five years or less. Applicants must have taken refuge in the Three Jewels at least one year ago and must not be in a long-term relationship. Priority will be given to applicants under 50 years old.

Click here for a detailed program description.

A dana offering and registration form are requested to reserve your place for the retreat. Click here to download the registration form (use the long form).

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Friday and stay through  lunch on Monday.

Clickhere to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring.

Labor Day Weekend Retreat
Developing Meditative Concentration
with Ven. Thubten Chodron
August 30 - September 2

Concentration is the ability to remain single-pointedly on a constructive object of meditation with a blissful and pliant mind for as long as one wishes. If you're like most meditators, that definition is a far cry from your actual meditative experience. For most of us, distracting thoughts continually flash through the mind like a fireworks display.

Join Ven. Thubten Chodron for instruction and practice on using a visualized image of the Buddha as your meditation object and to explore the helps and hindrances in cultivating meditative stabilization.

A dana offering and registration form are requested to reserve your place for the retreat. Click here to download the registration form

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Friday and stay through Monday lunch.

For more information, write the office or call (509) 447-5549

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring.

Sravasti Abbey 10th Birthday Celebration
September 15

In the fall of 2003, Ven. Thubten Chodron and 2 cats moved onto Sravasti Abbey's newly purchased property near Newport, Washington. Today there are nine ordained residents, several trainees, and Sravasti Abbey's Dharma programs touch thousands of people. Come spend the day or the weekend rejoicing in the effort and merit of the many hundreds of people who have helped Sravasti Abbey to grow and flourish over the last 10 years. A detailed schedule is yet to come. Write the office to reserve a place. 

1000-Armed Chenrezig Initiation and Compassion
teachings with Dagri Rinpoche
September 20-22

Sravasti Abbey is pleased that Dagri Rinpoche has accepted our invitation to teach. He will give initiation into the practice of Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion, and offer teachings on how to develop the great compassion that blossoms into the altruistic intention to become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient. Participants should have already taken refuge in the Three Jewels and at least some of the five lay precepts. Further details will be posted as they develop.

Dagri Rinpoche is the reincarnation of Pari Dorje Chang, one of the very great geshes of Lhasa who was the teacher of many lamas, including Ven. Chodron’s teacher, Lama Thubten Yeshe. Dagri Rinpoche was born in Tibet in 1958. He grew up during the Cultural Revolution of 1966 – 1976 and spent many years working in a Chinese labor camp. After his escape from Tibet in 1982, he completed 17 years of study of Buddhist philosophy and received the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest degree awarded by the Tibetan monastic universities. Dagri Rinpoche is close to both His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and teaches both sutra and tantra in FPMT and other centers all over the world.

Residential retreatants and commuters are welcomed. For the residential program arrive by 5 pm Friday. Initiation and teachings will likely end late afternoon on Sunday. Further details will be posted as they develop.  Write the office to reserve a place. 

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey

Click here to find out What to Bring. 

Chenrezig Retreat
Meditation on Compassion
with Ven. Thubten Chodron
September 22 - 29

Ven. Chodron will lead this retreat on Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion, emphasizing how to bring the compassion practices alive in your daily life and in your meditation sessions.

This retreat offers a rich environment for exploring the Buddha's Dharma—compelling teachings, time and silent space for reflection, clear meditation instruction, compassionate retreat discipline, and wonderful Dharma friends who encourage our practice, all in a beautiful rural setting. We invite you to come on vacation with Chenrezig.

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Sunday and stay through lunch the following Sunday.

A dana offering and registration form are requested to reserve your place for the retreat.

Click here to download the registration form (use the long form.)

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring.

Seven Point Mind Training
with Geshe Thupten Dorjee
October 11-13

The Seven Point Mind Training teachings, composed by the Kadampa Geshe Chekawa, outline the powerful methods for developing compassion and overcoming the self-centered thought. They show how to reverse our habit of always thinking first about ourselves and, instead, learning to cherish others. In this way we extract the most precious elixir of the Buddha's teachings, develop bodhicitta, and bringing happiness to all beings including ourselves. 

Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee  is a professor at the University of Arkansas where he has won the U of A Outstanding Faculty Award and the Omin Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology Faculty Award. Born in Tibet during the Chinese Communist invasion of 1959, his family eventually escaped to Bhutan where they endured much hardship before settling in southern India. Geshe entered Drepung Loseling Monastery at 13 and devoted 25 years to intensive study, leading to the Lharampa geshe degree, the highest of academic honors. He then went on to receive the prestigious Geshe Ngarampa degree at Gyuto Tantric Monastic University. Geshe-La toured t the world with Mystical Arts of Tibet, which brought him to the US in 1995. He continued academic studies, began setting up Dharma centers, and taught at various universities as a lecturer and adjunct professor. Now a US citizen, Geshe-la's unique bi-cultural experience-—along with his wit, wisdom, and compassion—-make his presentation of the fundamental tenets of Tibetan culture and philosophy highly accessible. 

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Friday and stay through lunch on the Sunday.

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey

Click here to find out What to Bring.

Nyung Ne - purification retreat of Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion
with Ven. Thubten Chodron 
November 15 –18

The nun Bhikshuni Palmo originated the Nyung Ne practice in India many centuries ago, healing herself from leprosy and gaining bodhisattva realizations. Nyung Ne retreat is a wonderful opportunity to deepen your refuge and strengthen your relationship with Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion.

The retreat includes taking the 8 Mahayana precepts, making many prostrations, and one day of refraining from all food, drink and talking aside from reciting prayers and mantra. Nyung Ne brings powerful purification and generates vast amounts of merit.

Applicants should have some familiarity with Chenrezig practice and be in good health, especially being free of hypo- or hyper-glycemic concerns including diabetes.

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Friday and stay through Sunday lunch, with no late arrivals or early departures.

Click here to learn more about the retreat.

Click here to register using the "long registration form."

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring

For more information, email the office or call 509-447-5549.

Green Tara Retreat
with the Sravasti Abbey community
December 9-22

The female deity Green Tara, a manifestation of the Buddha's enlightened activities, is one of the most loved Buddhas of the Tibetan tradition. With her extraordinary beauty, compassion, and wisdom, she is a demonstration of what each of us can become, showing us the good qualities to cultivate on the path to enlightenment as well as obstacles to abandon.

Meditating on Green Tara helps to overcome negative emotions, dispel all fears, and develop strong feelings of joy and happiness. Join the Sravasti Abbey community to meditate on Green Tara and reflect on antidotes to the 8 Dangers, eight chief mental afflictions that impede our own realization of Tara's enlightened qualities.

Retreatants should arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Monday and stay through lunch on Sunday the 22nd.

Click here to register using the "long registration form."

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring

For more information, email the office or call 509-447-5549.

Vajrsattva Purification Retreat
with Ven. Thubten Chodron & the Abbey community
One Month Retreat - January 13 - February 10, 2014
Three-Month Retreat - January 13 - April 14, 2014

Vajrasattva is the manifestation of the purity of body, speech, and mind of all the Buddhas. The practice of Vajrasattva is especially effective for purifying negative karmic imprints created by the ten destructive actions, transgressions of precepts, vows, and commitments. The practice entails doing a sadhana (practice text) that includes refuge, bodhicitta, meditation on emptiness, visualization, mantra, Lamrim meditation, and dedication.

Sravasti Abbey provides a supportive environment for long retreat.

Check out the detailed retreat description and preparation instructions to learn more and make an application.

Click here to read about visiting the Abbey.

Click here to find out What to Bring

For more information, email the office or call 509-447-5549.

 


Local & Ongoing Abbey Events

Sharing the Dharma Day at Sravasti Abbey

One Sunday a month, Sravasti Abbey opens our doors for Sharing the Dharma Day, an opportunity for newcomers and old friends to explore the Buddha's teachings and share in community fellowship.

People from all faiths and backgrounds can apply the principles explored on Sharing the Dharma Day to enhance their lives. Bring a vegetarian potluck dish (please no meat, eggs, garlic, onions, leeks or radishes) and come with an open mind. All are welcomed!

Click here to listen to previous Sharing the Dharma Day teachings.

Sharing the Dharma Schedule
Topics are drawn from 
Don't Believe Everything You Think by Ven. Thubten Chodron
Date   Topic
July 7   Bad Friends & Why We Don't Need Them
August 4   Relying on a Spiritual Friend
September 8   Turning to the Buddhist Path for Spiritual Guidance
October 6   Watch What You're Doing: Your Actions Have Results
November 3   Aspiring for Freedom: Why Worldly Pleasures Won't Cut It
December 8   The Kindness of Others & Wanting to Repay It

Sharing the Dharma Day Schedule

Session 1: 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Meditation

11:00 a.m. – Noon – Dharma talk

Session 2: 12:15 p.m. – Vegetarian potluck lunch & informal Dharma discussion/Q&A

Session 3: 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Contemplation and discussion of topic of the month

Session 4: 3:00 p.m. Tour of Buddhist artwork or grounds (weather depending) for newcomers

Dharma in Coeur d'Alene

Join Coeur d' Alene Dharma Friends 5:30 - 7:00 pm every Thursday for meditation and Dharma discussion at Life Center Therapies for Well Being, 1319 Government Way, Cd'A. Teachings with Abbey nuns on Fridays November 2 & 9 at 6:30 pm. Contact CdA Dharma for more information or call (208) 665-5862.

Dharma in Spokane

Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Meditation Group meets on Mondays from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the chapel at 4340 W. Fort Wright Drive. Ven. Chonyi and Ven. Jigme offer teachings through July 15th. The group continues to meet between these sessions for meditation and book study. Contact the office or call (509) 981-8658.

Offering Service Weekends

Need a break from the city? Join the Abbey community on an Offering Service Visit.

The opportunities are many, and the work is varied. Working in the Abbey's beautiful forest is fun, and your effort protects and preserves the Abbey land. Or you may serve in the kitchen, weed the garden, or any number of activities that help to spread the Dharma and/or benefit sentient beings.

Visitors have the opportunity to live in spiritual community, sharing in practice, Dharma discussions, and service. Your visit can be short or longer. Many people add a few offering service days when they come for a retreat or program.

Please contact the Service Coordinator to find a time that works for your schedule.

On-Line Events

Tele-teachings/Live Video with Venerable Chodron

You can’t contemplate or meditate on the Dharma without first hearing teachings, but if you live in a remote area or far from your teacher, what can you do?

Teachings on Aryadeva's 400 Stanzas

Ven. Chodron teaches on Aryadeva's,400 Stanzas, a classic text of the Madhyamaka school. Aryadeva is noted as the disciple of Nagrajuna, whose teachings describe the most subtle understanding of the nature of reality.

For a copy of the text, e-mail the Abbey office.

Head to http://sravasti.org/live and tune in for the live broadcast on the internet using uStream.TV. Ask questions in real time using the chat box! No registration necessary.

Or - just use your telephone. Dial into a central number (long distance charges apply.) You can dial in alone or set up your speakerphone and invite Dharma friends to join you for teachings and discussion. You must register so we can send you the teleconference’s phone number and access code.

Click here to send an email to register or ask for more information on telephone teachings

Click here to hear audio or read transcripts of past teachings.

Check out archived teachings on Grounds and Paths and 7 Types of Cognition by clicking here

Prostrations from Afar - Ongoing

Join up with other practitioners to do '100,000' prostrations. Read about joining in with others for support and community.

View instruction videos on prostrations from Venerable :

  • Instructions (Quicktime -22 MB) (Windows Media - 16 MB)
  • Demonstration ( Quicktime - 58 MB) (Windows Media - 29.8 MB)
    Be patient it takes around 5 minutes to download each one.
    Internet Explorer users: Look at the lower left hand corner of your browser, there is a download icon.
    The Quicktime versions require the latest Quicktime update. Download it here.

Practitioners from around the world are participating in the prostrations from afar. During previous monthly teleconferences, Ven. Chodron answered participants’ questions. You can listen to the recordings of the teleconferences at Venerable's website.

For more information, email the office.

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