Join Our Community

Rigpa Australia is a volunteer run registered charity belonging to an international network of Buddhist groups and centres offering the Buddha’s teachings in a way that is based on an authentic tradition, yet also relevant and beneficial for people in the modern world. 

Rigpa offers courses and seminars in meditation and compassion, as well as a complete path of study and practice for every stage of the Buddha’s teachings.

We have been offering teachings on meditation, compassion and Buddhist wisdom in Australia for more than 40 years.

For those who wish to go deeper into studying and practising Buddhism, Rigpa also offers a complete path of study and practice programs including courses in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition of Tibet, a traditional study college (shedra) and short and long practice retreats (drupdra).

A unique feature of Rigpa’s event programme is that it regularly hosts teachers of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions who give teachings and empowerments, as well as Buddhist masters of other lineages, and teachers from different spiritual traditions.

Becoming a Rigpa Australia member offers you an unparalleled opportunity to learn about and join in traditional Tibetan Buddhist practices for transforming your mind, and for cultivating peace and well-being in the world.

Membership includes unlimited access to all public courses and meditation sessions, and is a requirement for entering our main study programs (including the All Encompassing Path to Enlightenment and the Home Retreat).

If you don’t wish to continue your study with us, we invite you to support our work by becoming a Friend of Rigpa.

When joining as a member, please use the guide below to choose your level of support.  We encourage you to select the highest level you can afford. Your generosity enables us to provide the teachings to those who are less fortunate. And subscription fees cover over half of Rigpa Australia’s running costs.

Please note that we never turn anyone away if they are unable to afford these fees. Please email contact-us@rigpa.org.au if you need a further discount.

And you can stop your subscription at any time. 

Subscription is for students who have:

• attended at least ten weeks of our weekly course program,
• attended at least a full week of retreat or
• had a chat about membership with an instructor

We understand that everyone has different circumstances. We offer our services to anyone, regardless of income. We believe that lack of finances should not be a barrier to receiving the Buddha's teaching which have the power to relieve suffering, both physical, mental and emotional. If you would like to find out what options there are for financial support to join our community, please contact us at, contact-us@rigpa.org.au.

Choose the Benefactor option if you can afford to offer more to help support our work and to make it easier for us to offer our services to those who cannot afford as much. In Buddhism, such generosity is believed to help develop more compassion by working on our tendancy to be self-centred, and it also creates merit, or positive circumstances, so that we may continue to deepen our understanding and cultivate greater wisdom in the future.

The Full option is our recommended option. This amount will help us to ensure we can continue to meet the cost of delivering our courses and programs.

Choose the Concession option if you are on a low income, for example, if you are a student or are on a pension, are in low paid employment or experiencing other financial hardship. 

Rigpa is not-for-profit and each year we have our income and expenditure independently reviewed before reporting our finances to the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission. These reports are publicly available.

Your membership fees, together with income we receive from course and events, help to pay the running costs of our 5 centres and 1 retreat venue (infrastructure), including: rent, insurance, and energy costs; websites hosting; streaming costs; professional fees, such as bookkeeping, accounting, and design; and other administration costs. They also pay for the creation and development of our curriculum. 

We are mainly run by volunteers, but there are a few part-time employees who help us in key areas of our administration, such as venue management and finance, to ensure that we comply with our legal responsibilities. Employment costs is less than 9% of our annual expenditure. Membership provides us with a reliable source of income to employ qualified people who can dedicate their time to help lead our work.

The graphic below gives you an idea about where the funds are spent.