Reflections and Blessings of Buddha Amitayus, Guided Meditation, and Half-Day Fasts

Date	December 11-13, 2009
Time	7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Location	Namgyal Monastery, Ithaca, NY
Instructors	Venerable Lama Pema Wangdak
Cost	$140, see details below
Registration	Pre-registration required, see details below
Prerequisites	None. This intensive is suitable for both beginning and advanced students.

Our provisions for a meaningful and happier existence in this world and beyond cannot be complete without developing a holistic outlook within an environment of dependent occurrences, whether natural or deliberately conditioned. The mode and manner of carrying out an act of body and mind within the context of specific surroundings defines our experiences and our very reality. This complex relationship of dependent occurrences, called “tendrel,” is a theory in itself that governs and can explain the entire realm of the possibilities of the universe, our existence, life, experience, and so on. The Buddha’s teaching, including its methods and techniques, represents just that. Take a flower and give it to someone and you will discover what is most likely to happen next. Or eat proper food, do regular exercise, spend time on reflection, contemplation, or even quietly “musing” or pondering on kindness and compassion, or learn to visualize based on the techniques taught by the Buddha – in any and all of these there is something to be experienced and realized, something far beyond our imagination. This weekend will focus on “good health” and “peace of mind.” There will be an initiation of Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life and Wisdom, with its entire guided meditation, Sojong observances on Saturday and Sunday, Refuge Ceremony, and time for questions and answers. We will include a prayer for everyone, living or deceased, our dear and near ones, friends and foe alike. Please participate in this event just to do that, as there is something to be gained for all of us.

Lama Pema Wangdak is a student of His Holiness Sakya Trizin and other great masters from the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. He has been a monk since the age of seven, and is a graduate of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Benares, India, where he received his Acharya (masters) degree in 1980. In 1982 he was sent to America by His Holiness Sakya Trizin as the first representative of the younger generation of teachers from the Sakya school. In 1989 Lama Pema founded the Vikramasila Foundation, which encompasses the Palden Sakya Centers in New York City, Woodstock, NY, Philmont, NY, Cresskill, NJ, Jamaica, VT, and Dayton, OH, where courses are offered in Tibetan Buddhist studies and meditation. Lama Pema is the creator of "Bur Yig" Tibetan Braille, and is the founder of Pema Ts'al (Lotus Grove) Schools for Tibetan lay children in Mundgod, India, Pokara, Nepal monastic schools for boys, and Pema Ts'al School in NYC which is based on the curriculum at Sakya College, India and provides a Buddhist education founded upon traditional monastic training and study while conforming to the Western university teaching format. Lama Pema has been teaching western students for over 20 years and continues to travel and teach extensively to Dharma centers around the world. His wonderful command of the English language and excelled wisdom and compassion make him an outstanding role model and teacher.

Location

Aurora Street House, Namgyal Monastery, Ithaca, NY (address and directions).

Cost

The cost for the weekend intensive is $140, and includes a simple breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.

Registration

To register, please contact Namgyal with your full name, address, telephone number, and email (optional).

Payment

Please make your personal check, money order, or bank cashier's check payable to “Namgyal Monastery” and send to our mailing address.

For payment by credit card, please register first and then process your payment through the “Donate to Namgyal Ithaca” link on our Supporting Namgyal page. In the Comments field of the Payment Form, enter the name of the event for which you are paying.

Schedule of Activities

Friday 12/11
7:30 - 8:30 PM: Introductory Talk
(Free and open to the public - Donations are welcomed)

Saturday 12/12
7:00 - 8:00 AM: Sojong / Taking the Eight Precepts for a day
(Students are not to take food or drink before the precepts)
8:00 - 9:00 AM: Simple breakfast
9:00 - 10:15 AM: Session one
10:15 - 10:30 AM: Tea break
10:30 AM - Noon: Session two
Noon - 2:00 PM: Catered Vegetarian Lunch
2:00 - 3:15 PM: Session three
3:15 - 3:30 PM: Tea break
3:30 - 5:00 PM: Session four

Sunday 12/13
7:00 - 8:00 AM: Sojong / Taking the Eight Precepts for a day
(Students are not to take food or drink before the precepts)
8:30 - 9:00 AM: Simple breakfast
9:00 - 10:15 AM: Session one
10:15 - 10:30 AM: Tea break
10:30 AM - Noon: Session two

Note: Sojong practice is undertaken for 24 hours, from 7:00 AM to 7:00 AM