2022 Dzogchen Buddha Path European Spring Internet Teaching Program
10 April 2022 (Sunday) - 16 April 2022 (Saturday)
The Dzogchen Shri Singha Europe Association is very pleased to announce the 2022 Dzogchen Buddha Path European Spring Internet Teaching Program taught by Venerable Bodhi Lama Orgyen Thabkey Dorje (Erik Drew Jung) and Excellent Bodhi Lama Rita Pichlhöfer under the guidance of His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. This program will be held online via Zoom, and it presents an ideal opportunity to deepen your understanding and experience of the teachings of the Dzogchen Lineage and practice the Dzogchen Buddha Path.
Our program has been transformed in the past two years in a powerful way in order to harness the accumulation power of group practice and bring us together virtually and remotely in order to practice Dharma together. We are excited for the opportunity to continue to develop a model for distance learning, contemplation and meditation that will serve us for decades to come!
The 2022 Spring Internet Teaching Program will commence on Sunday, 10th of April 2022, 18:00 MET and conclude on Saturday, 16th of April 2022, 12:00 MET. This year’s teaching and training will include in-depth and direct teachings on the sacred text The Buddha Path, the Buddhist fundamentals, and will include many practices such as reciting sacred texts, mantra recitations, personal thuns (practice sessions), etc. In order to participate in the full program, please plan to attend every session.
Program Pricing
The fee for the full online teaching program is based on a sliding scale with fee options:
- €250
- €350
If you can’t afford to pay the whole online teaching program fee please contact the online teaching program director maya.pichlhoefer@thebuddhapath.org.
As always the teachings and ceremonies themselves are offered free of charge, but it is traditional in Buddhism for the student to make an individual offering to the teacher during the retreat. You may voluntarily make an offering to the Lama Erik at anytime during the program, through this PayPal link. It is most auspicious to do this at the beginning of the event at the end of the opening ceremony.
About the teachers
Venerable Bodhi Lama Orgyen Thabkey Dorje (Erik Drew Jung) is a monk and authorized lama under the guidance of his root teacher, Tibetan Meditation Master and thirty-third generation Dzogchen Lineage Holder, H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. Thabkey Lama met and took refuge with Rinpoche in February of 2004 and has since devoted his life to Dharma and serving the Vajra Master. Bodhi Lama grew up in Portland, Oregon, studying and practicing Mahayana Buddhism with his father, a practitioner in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. He first took refuge in 1989, monastic vows in 2008, was authorized as Archarya Lama in 2014 and as Illustrious Bodhi Lama in 2018. Thabkey Lama has led many retreats, and conducted several overseas teaching tours, spreading the authentic Dharma in Europe, including Russia, Finland, Estonia, Austria, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Scotland, Iceland and widely across the U.S. He is a passionate and inspiring teacher in the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig Lineage of Mahayana Buddhism.
Bodhi Lama Rita grew up in Austria and studied languages and cultures of South Asia and Tibet at the University of Vienna. She met her Buddhist teacher His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, the 32nd lineage holder of the Dzogchen Tradition, for the first time at the age of three.
From 2009 to 2018, she has spent a total of three years and six months with her teacher studying Dharma and in solitary retreat. Since the age of nineteen, Lama Rita has dedicated her life exclusively to the transmission of Buddhist teachings and the translation of Buddhist texts.
About the Program
What to Expect on a Dzogchen Buddha Path Internet Teaching Program
“Retreat” means withdrawing your body, speech, and mind away from busy, meaningless, and negative activities, freeing yourself to focus on helping all beings.
Away from worldly distractions, you can wholeheartedly train your mind in the Way of True Happiness. Retreat takes on even more importance during this time when most of us are already confined to our homes.
It is therefore the perfect circumstance for the Five Excellent Gathered Perfections, and to learn the sacred practices of personal retreat. You will practice Dharma with more joy, depth, and intensity than you have likely experienced before and the results may surprise you. By training your mind using the skillful means of the Dzogchen Lineage you will not only take steps toward your own awakening, but be the healing condition for the entire world in this time of crisis.
The The Dzogchen Buddha Path Spring Internet Teaching Program is five full days plus two partial days of learning, contemplation, meditation, and prayer, conducted as a personal retreat and guided by Bodhi Lama Erik and Bodhi Lama Rita. It is a unique opportunity to increase your love, compassion, and wisdom, while greatly increasing your merit by practicing Dharma during this challenging time of the pandemic. You will learn how to increase your happiness, causes of happiness, and the happiness of all beings, while decreasing the suffering and causes of suffering of all beings. By committing to spend this time practicing to this end, your mind will be transformed and you will have a more positive effect on your loved ones and all beings.
Daily Program Schedule and Sessions
The program schedule includes practice sessions, teachings, tutoring and Q&A sessions. Participants will be given ample time to cook, eat, exercise and maintain their precious human bodies. As part of your daily practice, from about 22:00 to 6:00, you will be required to maintain a vow of silence and not engage in any normal waking activities except using the bathroom. These times may vary from day to day, but the idea is that you will be laying down resting your body for 8 hours every night and not unnecessarily disturbing other people. The preliminary schedule for the program (all times are in Central European Time).
Attendance
To accumulate group power, students – without exception – will be required to attend all sessions in order to participate in the program. In other words, retreatants cannot miss any of the sessions and then continue to participate in the remainder of the program without special permission.
Sunday 10th of April
18:00 - 19:00 Preliminary Practice
19:00 - 21:00 Official request for teaching, Dharma teaching, Q&A - Bodhi Lama Erik
21:00 - 21:30 Concise Concluding Practice, Sangha Unity and Vow of Silence
Monday 11th to Friday 15th of April
6:00 - 7:15 Joyfully wake-up
7:15 - 8:30 Preliminary Practice - Open to all Sangha
8:30 - 9:30 Recess - breakfast
9:30 - 10:45 Learning practice / Dharma teaching - Bodhi Lama Rita
11:00 - 14:30 Self-study / Dharma activity / Recess - lunch
14:30 - 15:30 Sadhana Practice
15:30 - 18:00 Recess - dinner
18:00 - 19:00 Concluding practice - Open to all Sangha
19:00 - 21:00 Dharma teaching, Q&A - Bodhi Lama Erik
21:00 - 21:15 Concise Sangha Unity and Vow of Silence
22:00 - 6:00 Sleeping peacefully
About the lineage
It is extremely precious to study under an authentic master, one whose lineage can be traced all the way back to Buddha Shakyamuni. Our precious Vajra Master, H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, is a thirty-third generation lineage holder of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig and the Dzogchen Khadro Nyingthig lineages, selected by previous Dzogchen Lineage Masters in Tibet because of his profound knowledge and realization. With more than seven years of solitary cave meditation experience in the high Tibetan holy mountains, Rinpoche truly embodies the qualities of a realized practitioner and yogi. Also a vibrant and dynamic teacher and scholar, Rinpoche is a lama of the Dzogchen Monastery and professor of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University. He is a published author of numerous books in both Tibetan and English, including The Buddha Path, a practice book that encompasses all of Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha Path is available in English, Chinese, Russian, and German, and is soon to be released in Nepali, Japanese, and Spanish.
Just as great master of the past, Atisha, was revered for always teaching refuge, Khenpo Choga Rinpoche is revered for always training teachers. His heartfelt effort to train knowledgeable, wise and compassionate teachers has reached a critical juncture, and he has authorized authentically trained and certified Dharma Teachers of The Buddha Path to teach under his guidance.
Q&A
If you have any questions, or are just wondering if this event is for you, you should contact us in advance to discuss. This page will be updated with some of the answers to questions posed, so questions are very much welcomed.
For questions please contact maya.pichlhoefer@thebuddhapath.org
