Guest Teachers

  • Fathom the Mind. Heal the World.

    with Lama Alan Wallace, Dr. Eva Natanya & Dr. Anuradha Choudry October 1-7, 2022

    Co-sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and the Center for Contemplative Research.

    This retreat is an opportunity to explore the interdenominational, inter-contemplative themes outlined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his vision for the Center for Contemplative Research:
    • The Buddhist meditative practices of śamatha and vipaśyanā
    • Teachings on nonviolence and compassion from other revered Indian traditions
    • Instruction in the contemplative traditions of Christianity
    The virtual retreat will be available with both audio and video recordings of each day's teachings. All Q&A sessions, the teachings from Dr. Choudry and the final day panel discussion will be live. All other sessions will be recorded and made available within 24-36 hours. We are offering multiple pricing options as you will see when you select 'Choose an option' from the drop-down menu below. Read more about the retreat below.

    Select your virtual retreat option
  • A virtual retreat from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado

    Sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute and the Center for Contemplative Research

    The Vajra Essence – Part III March 31 - May 30, 2022

    Audio Stream/Download Registration

      This online, 8-week retreat will focus on completing Phase 4: “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground,” Phase 5: "Determining Secret Dualistic Grasping and Revealing the Way of Natural Liberation" and Phase 6: "Teaching on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions" from The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra Self-Emergent from the Nature of Existence. Prerequisite Requirements to Purchase Program By purchasing you acknowledge that you have satisfied the retreat prerequisites of listening to both the 2020 and 2021 8-week retreats on The Vajra Essence and will listen to Lama Alan’s oral commentary to The Vajra Essence in its entirety and have had an empowerment or will receive the recommended empowerment. If you have not received the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment from Lama Alan, then you should not listen to Yangchen's teachings on the sadhana (which began after the empowerment was granted during the 2022 8-week retreat on May 11, 2022). We do hope that at a future date the empowerment will be available again. This year we are offering multiple pricing options as you will see below when you select Choose An Option. If you need a scholarship, you can apply here. Please read all of the details below under description.
  • Sadhana classes from the 2022 8-week retreat with Yangchen Ösel (Eva Natanya), which followed the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment offered by Lama Alan Wallace.

    Yangchen offers 15 sessions to guide you in your sadhana practice. Her clear elucidation of these profound practices will enhance your understanding and practice. There are nine meditations and four videos, including a short teaching from Lama Alan on the 6-Session Guru Yoga and Yangchen's explanation of this teaching, the Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana with Gaṇacakra, as well as the complete Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana with Tibetan Recitation.

    This is available only if you have received the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment in the Düdjom Tersar Lineage, whether from Lama Alan or another qualified guru.

      If you received the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment but did not follow the 2022 8-week retreat it is highly recommended that you receive these teachings from Yangchen Ösel. If you wish to receive teachings on the Lake-Born Vajra sadhana in this lineage of teachings from Lama Alan and Yangchen Ösel, we strongly encourage you to register for the whole of the 2019 8-week retreat, or else follow the entire sequence of the 2020-2022 Vajra Essence retreats. For your convenience, you can stream, download or listen to the teachings on your podcast app.
  • Weekend Virtual Meditation and Teachings with Drubpon Lama Karma in Santa Barbara
    Audio Download Only $108
    Video Online Streaming Only - $148
    Both Audio Download and Video Stream - $220

    Once you have made the payment,  links to download the audio and/or Video view link will be emailed.

    Recorded on August 8 & 9, 2020 Sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (SBI). We are delighted to announce that Alan has personally requested Drubpon Lama Karma to offer online teachings. Drubpon Lama Karma will teach from the Collection of Dharmas on Identitylessness: Twenty-one Points of Crucial Advice by Kamalarāja. The teachings will be translated by Khenpo Sonam into English.
    Please select you media options from the dropdown
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    Mahamudra Shamatha Teachings with Drubpon Lama Karma

    If you register for this teaching, you will be transferred to a separate website, and there will be a registration fee, which is on a sliding scale of $100 to $200. Drubpon Lama Karma provides detailed instructions on the practice of Shamatha from the Mahamudra perspective, based on his own experience from years of meditation retreats. These teachings began on November 3, 2023 and continued on a weekly basis for three months. The teachings are available in both audio and video recordings. The teachings are in Tibetan language with English translation. The videos of these teachings are in the process of being updated on YouTube with Spanish and Portuguese closed captions (CC). The first few sessions are now available. You can watch the first session of this series of Shamatha teachings here on YouTube. You can read more about Lama Karma and these teachings here. If you would like to register for three months of teachings and detailed instruction, click here. These links will take you away from the SBI website. Please read below for additional information.

    REGISTER HERE

    For questions email: karmajnana108@gmail.com
  • Drubpon Lama Karma held three online teachings on the Four Immeasurables (recorded Oct. 24 and Nov. 21), and Practical Advice from The Ocean of Enlightened Activities to Benefit Beings by Karma Chagme (recorded Nov. 21 and Dec. 19, 2020). The teachings were translated by Khenpo Sonam into English.

    This retreat is available for video streaming and audio download - select your option below.

  • Shamatha Teachings with Drupla Tsampa Karma Translated by Khenpo Namchak Dorji Recorded in October 19 and 20, 2019 (one and a half day retreat) Once you have made the payment,  links to download the audio recordings will be emailed.
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    The Heart Sutra is perhaps the most popular text in the Buddhist world. Known both for its profundity and brevity, this work quickly made its way from India to China, Japan, Korea and Tibet. It is recited daily in an array of languages around the world. The principle theme of the Heart Sutra is "sunyata" or emptiness. This retreat, led by Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, focuses on the study and practices that emerge from this profound discourse on sunyata delivered by the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara to Venerable Shariputra at Vulture Peak. What insights rise from this text? How can this text help us to transform our minds and hearts, recognize our potential for enlightenment, and help us liberate ourselves from samsara? In this retreat, goddess Prajnaparamita beckons us to engage on these reflections. The four-disc DVD set chronicales the weekend retreat held in September 2010 at Santa Barbara's historical Old Mission. The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi is the founding director of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has a graduate degree in Comparative Philosophy of Religion from Harvard University and is an Integral Honors Scholar in Philosophy and Science. At the age of ten, he entered a Buddhist Monastery in Rajgir and was subsequently ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is his spiritual Mentor. Venerable Tenzin lectures internationally and is also President of The Prajnopaya Foundation, a worldwide humanitarian organization. For more information on him and his work, vist www.iMonk.org.
  • Mahamudra Shamatha Teachings with Drupön Lama Karma - Five-Month Meditation Program This series of teachings is the continuation of the three-month shamatha program with Drupön Rinpoche that had been offered from November 2023 - February 2024, you can read more about this series here. You do not need to have followed the prior teachings, but it is recommended. There will be weekly online sessions on Fridays at 7:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) starting on March 22nd until August 23rd, 2024. For those who cannot attend live, we will be providing access to recordings, which will be commercial free. The teachings will be given in Tibetan language with English translation. The recordings will also have closed captioning (CC) in Spanish and Portuguese. Please read below for more information about the retreat. You can read more about Lama Karma here. The cost for the program is on a sliding scale of 200 to 400 USD based on each participant’s financial situation. Should anyone be unable to afford the fee please email us at: karmajnana108@gmail.com explaining your situation. If you wish to sign up for the teachings, please click below. After making the payment, please look for the REGISTRATION LINK IN THE CONFIRMATION PAGE. In case you miss it, please email us so we can send you the link via email.

    Link to register

  • Over 15 sessions Glen Svensson will introduce the practice of shamatha, the practice of cultivating a calm, clear and focused mind. Each session includes discussion, guided meditation and Q&A. This program is suitable for those new to this practice and also those who are already well established in shamatha practice. These teachings were originally part of 2020 8-week retreat. Please see below for additional information.
  • The Seven Preliminaries according to the Revelations of Düdjom Lingpa

    Teaching, translations, and oral transmission by Eva Natanya (Yangchen Osel) from the 2020 8-week Retreat Eva Natanya presents previously untranslated material on the Seven Uncommon Preliminaries (or Ngöndro) as they appear in the revelations of Düdjom Lingpa and in key commentaries from the Düdjom Lineage. See below for additional information.
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