BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CiviCRM//NONSGML CiviEvent iCal//EN X-WR-TIMEZONE:Australia/Sydney METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Sydney BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20260405T020000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20261004T030000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:CiviCRM_EventID_1331_069944039e5b50df4377c1517756ec89@registration.rigpa.org.au SUMMARY:Cultivating Compassion | Online X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

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We are all looking fo r simple\, practical ways to nurture our own inner goodness and find the peace and courage to live w ell in the face of a world full of stress\, anxiet y and disconnect

This online course presents Geshe Chekawa’s summation of the Tibetan Buddhist guidel ines for living a compassionate life\, The Seven P oints of Mind Training.

The se lojong (mind training) teachings have guided pr actitioners for more than a thousand years. Chekaw a's pithy slogans open the way for each of us to d evelop our own compassionate nature and apply it i n everyday life. They offer a vital practical anti dote to despair and despondency.

At the core of thi s course are video recordings of Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche’s comprehensive commentary on The Se ven Points of Mind Training\, given in 2018. These teachings are accompanied by guided practices tha t bring this commentary to life.

Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche\, one of Rigpa’s Spiritual Directors\ , is an outstanding meditation teacher. She is kno wn for her penetrating wisdom and humour\, conveyi ng the Buddhist teachings in a concise and lively manner\, enriched with personal anecdotes of parti cular relevance to the everyday life of the modern \, fast-paced world.

The course has been deliberate ly designed to be slow and spacious.

If you wish\, this will allow study of optional textual commenta ries from other masters\, contemporary and past. E xplicitly referenced during the course are: Rin gu Tulku Rinpoche's Mind Training\; Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche's The Great Path of Awakening\; and Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche 's The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Comp assion through Training the Mind. All demonstr ate the profound benefits of studying and practisi ng Lojong.

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is renowned for his ability to transmit the most complicated t eachings in an accessible way\, infused with warmt h and humour. A master of the Kagyu Order\, he was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism under great masters including His Holiness the 16th Gyal wa Karmapa and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoch e. He has authored several books on Buddhism\, inc luding the Lazy Lama series and has taught at Rigp a's annual retreat.

In Mind Training\, he begins th e chapter entitled “The Lojong Tradition” with the following.
“Mind Training comes directly from the Buddh a and has been passed down to this day in < font color="#397b21">an unbroken line. It w as originally brought to Tibet from India in the e leventh century by the great Indian master Atisha Dipamkara (A.D. 982-1054).”

He goes on to say:
“The teachings of Buddhism are s o vast and complicated that it would be impossible to study them all. Lojong c ontains\, in a condensed form\, the essence of all Buddhist thought. Our prospects in other t raditional meditation methods depend to some exten t on our individual level of ability but mind trai ning is worthwhile for everyone and enriching in e very situation.”

In the translator's introduction t o The Great Path of Awakening\, we are told that < b>Jamgon Kongtrul (1813 – 1899) produced five major works\, known as The Five Treasuries\, which “embrace all Tibetan learning and constitute one of the greatest contributions of the religious rev ival in eastern Tibet\, the Ri-me movement” and th at “His ...influence on buddhism was enormous”.

He was one of many teachers “ inspired or urged by their students to write furth er” on the subject of The Seven Points of Mind Tra ining. and “he likely welcomed the opportunity to write on a highly regarded teaching that had\, by his time\, been assimilated by all schools of Budd hism in Tibet”.

In one translation of his subsequ ent commentary\, he is quoted as saying:

“…we should strive only for the state of completely perfected bu ddhahood. There are no methods to effect this atta inment other than those which rely on two forms of meditation: relative bodhicitta\, which is traini ng the mind in love and compassion\, and ultimate bodhicitta\, which is resting evenly in a non-disc ursive state free from conceptual elaborations.”

Kongtrul quotes the great Nagarjuna:
“If the rest o f humanity and I
Wish to attain unsurpassable awa kening\,
The basis for this is bodhicitta
As stable as t he King of Mountains:
Compas sion\, which touches everything\,
And pristine wi sdom\, which does not rely on duality.”

From the early 1980s onwards\, Traleg Kyabgon Rinpo che was a pioneer in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to Australia and a strong advocate of non-sectari anism. He taught extensively on many aspects of Bu ddhist psychology and philosophy\, comparative rel igion\, and Buddhist and Western thought.

2026 mark s His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th year.
A ‘Year o f Compassion’ has been declared in his honor and t his course is offered in the spirit of the year.

It is open to all\, but does assume some familiarity with meditation and the Buddhist understanding of interdependence.


Details

Where: O nline 

When: Saturday mornings\, third Saturday of each month - 21 February\; 21 March\; 16 May\; 20 June\; 18 Jul y\; 15 August\; 19 September\; 21 November\; 19 December 2026 and extending some way into 2027.

Ti me: 10.30am - 12.30pm Australian Eastern Time
(12.30 am Central European Time\; 6.30pm Friday US East C oast Time\, 3.30pm Friday US West Coast Time)


Cost:
Individual sessions: Full $20\, Conces sion $10

FREE for Rigpa mem bers/subscribers. Please email sydney@rigpa.org.au to request the discount code.

If you are experienc ing financial hardship please email us at sydney@r igpa.org.au to request a further concession.


NB This course takes a per sonal\, intimate approach to working with these te achings so numbers will be limited to a maximum of 25 participants.

Places i n the course will be assigned in the order in whic h valid registrations are received.

 

Certificates of Att endance are available on request and may be suitab le for Ongoing Professional Development.


DESCRIPTION:\n \n \n We are all looking for simple\, practical ways to nurture our own inner goodness and find t he peace and courage to live well in the face of a world full of stress\, anxiety and disconnect\n \ n This online course presents Geshe Chekawa’s summ ation of the Tibetan Buddhist guidelines for livin g a compassionate life\, The Seven Points of Mind Training.\n \n These lojong (mind training) teachi ngs have guided practitioners for more than a thou sand years. Chekawa's pithy slogans open the way f or each of us to develop our own compassionate nat ure and apply it in everyday life. They offer a vi tal practical antidote to despair and despondency. \n \n At the core of this course are video recordi ngs of Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche’s comprehensive com mentary on The Seven Points of Mind Training\, giv en in 2018. These teachings are accompanied by gui ded practices that bring this commentary to life.\ n \n Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche\, one of Rigpa’s Spir itual Directors\, is an outstanding meditation tea cher. She is known for her penetrating wisdom and humour\, conveying the Buddhist teachings in a con cise and lively manner\, enriched with personal an ecdotes of particular relevance to the everyday li fe of the modern\, fast-paced world.\n \n The cour se has been deliberately designed to be slow and s pacious.\n \n If you wish\, this will allow study of optional textual commentaries from other master s\, contemporary and past. Explicitly referenced d uring the course are: Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's Mind Training\; Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche's The Great Path of Awakening\; and Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche's The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion thr ough Training the Mind. All demonstrate the profou nd benefits of studying and practising Lojong.\n \ n Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is renowned for his ability to transmit the most complicated teachings in an accessible way\, infused with warmth and humour. A master of the Kagyu Order\, he was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism under great masters i ncluding His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He has autho red several books on Buddhism\, including the Lazy Lama series and has taught at Rigpa's annual retr eat.\n \n In Mind Training\, he begins the chapter entitled “The Lojong Tradition” with the followin g.\n “Mind Training comes directly from the Buddha and has been passed down to this day in an unbrok en line. It was originally brought to Tibet from I ndia in the eleventh century by the great Indian m aster Atisha Dipamkara (A.D. 982-1054).”\n \n He g oes on to say:\n “The teachings of Buddhism are so vast and complicated that it would be impossible to study them all. Lojong contains\, in a condense d form\, the essence of all Buddhist thought. Our prospects in other traditional meditation methods depend to some extent on our individual level of a bility but mind training is worthwhile for everyon e and enriching in every situation.”\n \n In the t ranslator's introduction to The Great Path of Awak ening\, we are told that Jamgon Kongtrul (1813 – 1 899) produced five major works\, known as The Five Treasuries\, which “embrace all Tibetan learning and constitute one of the greatest contributions o f the religious revival in eastern Tibet\, the Ri- me movement” and that “His ...influence on buddhis m was enormous”.\n \n He was one of many teachers “inspired or urged by their students to write furt her” on the subject of The Seven Points of Mind Tr aining. and “he likely welcomed the opportunity to write on a highly regarded teaching that had\, by his time\, been assimilated by all schools of Bud dhism in Tibet”. \n \n In one translation of his subsequent commentary\, he is quoted as saying:\n \n “…we should strive only for the state of comple tely perfected buddhahood. There are no methods to effect this attainment other than those which rel y on two forms of meditation: relative bodhicitta\ , which is training the mind in love and compassio n\, and ultimate bodhicitta\, which is resting eve nly in a non-discursive state free from conceptual elaborations.”\n \n Kongtrul quotes the great Nag arjuna:\n “If the rest of humanity and I\n Wish to attain unsurpassable awakening\,\n The basis for this is bodhicitta\n As stable as the King of Moun tains:\n Compassion\, which touches everything\,\n And pristine wisdom\, which does not rely on dual ity.”\n \n From the early 1980s onwards\, Traleg K yabgon Rinpoche was a pioneer in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to Australia and a strong advocate of non -sectarianism. He taught extensively on many aspec ts of Buddhist psychology and philosophy\, compara tive religion\, and Buddhist and Western thought.\ n \n 2026 marks His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th year.\n A ‘Year of Compassion’ has been declared in his honor and this course is offered in the spi rit of the year.\n \n It is open to all\, but does assume some familiarity with meditation and the B uddhist understanding of interdependence.\n \n \n \n \n Details\n \n Where: Online \n \n When: Satur day mornings\, third Saturday of each month - 21 F ebruary\; 21 March\; 16 May\; 20 June\; 18 July \; 15 August\; 19 September\; 21 November\; 19 December 2026 and extending some way into 2027.\n \n Time: 10.30am - 12.30pm Australian Eastern Time \n (12.30am Central European Time\; 6.30pm Friday US East Coast Time\, 3.30pm Friday US West Coast T ime)\n \n \n \n \n Cost:\n Individual sessions: Fu ll $20\, Concession $10\n \n FREE for Rigpa member s/subscribers. Please email sydney@rigpa.org.au to request the discount code.\n \n If you are experi encing financial hardship please email us at sydne y@rigpa.org.au to request a further concession.\n \n \n \n \n NB This course takes a personal\, i ntimate approach to working with these teachings s o numbers will be limited to a maximum of 25 parti cipants. \n \n Places in the course will be assign ed in the order in which valid registrations are r eceived.\n \n \n   \n \n Certificates of Attendan ce are available on request and may be suitable fo r Ongoing Professional Development.\n \n \n \n \n CATEGORIES:Seminar - Foundation CALSCALE:GREGORIAN DTSTAMP;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260221T103000 DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260221T103000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261219T123000 LOCATION:Online using Zoom\n Australia\n URL:https://registration.rigpa.org.au/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1331 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR