Refuge, the entranceway to awakening - a teaching by Dominique Side
There comes a point on our path where we become completely weary of our habitual discontentment and frustrations. To our surprise, this is the perfect opportunity for us to give awakening a real chance. Today we will explore this special moment of entering the Buddhist Path.
About Dominique
Dominique Side encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the mid-1970s in London. She has studied with Sogyal Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in particular, and over the years held a number of leadership roles in Rigpa UK and in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France.
She has completed several strict retreats and has also obtained a PhD in Madhyamaka philosophy from Bristol University, UK. She taught Buddhism in London schools for eight years and has written textbooks on the subject. Under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse she initiated the Milinda training programme for Dharma teachers in 2017, and she also served as vice-president of the European Buddhist Union for five years. As a senior teacher in Rigpa, she specializes in making Buddhist thought and philosophy accessible to all.
Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, Dominique has been concerned by environmental issues and for 15 years worked professionally as a writer and editor on the interface between environment and economic development.
About the Program
This session is part of our Monthly Sangha Gathering series presenting highlights from: The Way of the Great Perfection, the All-Encompassing Path to Enlightenment
The All-Encompassing Path to Enlightenment is the main study programme in Rigpa, for students of all levels. In this cycle, The Way of the Great Perfection, we will explore the main principles of the preliminary practices in a fresh way. These practices are a complete path in themselves and also the foundation for Vajrayana and Dzogchen practice.
The preliminary practices, called Ngöndro in Tibetan, encompass all the elements needed to prepare us to fully receive the Great Perfection teachings of Dzogchen, the highest and most direct stream of wisdom within the Buddhist tradition of Tibet.
No matter where we are on our path, this new cycle will support us in taking it to completion. Our senior and most experienced Rigpa teachers will guide us through the key principles of the Ngöndro, helping us to discover or revisit these principles in a fresh, up-to-date, real life way, while preserving their authenticity.
Each session will offer guided contemplations, group meditations, exercises and discussions.
The goal of this programme is for us to arrive at a thorough and complete understanding of what the teachings tell us about the different methods of buddhist practice, to reach a complete certainty on how we apply them in daily life, and ultimately realise the innermost nature of our own minds.
About the Day
We warmly invite you to attend in person at our National Center in Newtown. If this is really not possible for you, you may join online by Zoom.
Held on one Sunday each Month, 9.30am - 1.00pm
1 December, then in 2025 - 9 February, 9 March, 13 April, 11 May, 8 June .... and more
Cost: Adult: $20, Concession $10, Rigpa Subscribers (members): free
(Subscribers, if you have not received a discount code, please email sydney@rigpa.org.au.)
Newtown
Sydney, NSW
Australia