PMC welcomes the Queer Dharma group to meet and practice in our space on the second and fourth Monday of each month  beginning  at 6:30 pm

Queer Dharma provides a space for LGBTQQI people to learn and practice meditation and Dharma.  We welcome all newcomers and experienced practitioners to share in a supportive, welcoming environment.

Together we practice meditation, study dharma, and discuss personal experiences with the intention of finding support and becoming more aware of our inherent basic goodness. Meditation instruction is available free of charge.

We have deep appreciation for our allies but hold this space for those who identify as LGBTQQI.

PMC generously offers space for us to meet. We ask that you reciprocate with an offering to PMC.

Suggested offering is $5

On behalf of H. E. Chhoje Rinpoche, we are delighted to announce Christina Monson will teach at PMC on Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9 to teach on Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva.

This program will be live streamed, links to access the live stream will be sent to registrants on the evening of  Thursday, June 6.

The great Indian master Shantideva (c.685-763) gifted the Buddhist tradition what may well be its most powerful teaching on how to make the spiritual path a personal experience in his famous treatise the Bodhicaryavatara, The Way of the Bodhisattva. Shantideva wrote this work for himself, based on what he actually saw and experienced in his own mind. His insights have proved timeless. The penetrating and inspiring verses of this, his master work, are as relevant today as ever before.  Beginning with an elucidation of bodhicitta – the heart of the Mahayana path – the Bodhicaryavatara invites us to uplift ourselves out of self-focused attitudes and embrace the true source of happiness: a motivation to awaken for the benefit of others. With this as the foundation, the teaching then takes us on a journey of developing the skills needed to engage this intention on a practical level, a discovery of what it means to be fully minded. Getting right down into the sneaky machinations of ego-fueled emotions, Santideva’s masterful verses leave no place for us to hold onto ordinary poverty-stricken thinking. Instead, the text, properly studied and contemplated, opens the door into the possibility of experiencing fully qualified meditation and an understanding of the true nature of all that appears to exist.

Over this two-day intensive retreat, we will focus on the first three chapters of the text through close study, contemplation, experiential activities and practice. Respecting the auspiciousness of the beginning of a new year, we will welcome forth aspirations for ourselves, for others, and for our world based upon our commitment to the bodhisattva path and the vision it unfolds. It may be helpful to have a copy of The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva with you to reference during the program.

Introduction of Christina Monson:

Christina has been practicing and studying Buddhism since 1987. Her interest in the wisdom traditions of Asia began in high school and led her to devote her first two years of college to immersive study of the Zen and Chan Buddhist traditions of Japan and China. She first traveled to Nepal in 1989 and immediately met her root guru, Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche, under whose guidance she studied and practiced for the next twenty- seven years. Her practice has focused on the treasure lineage of Sera Khandro Dewai Dorje, the great Tibetan female mystic and treasure-revealer whose collected writings Christina continues to translate. Extensive periods of solitary retreat in the sacred land of Yolmo, Helambu, where Chatral Rinpoche bestowed his heart teachings, brought a deepening of experience in the richness of the pith instructions of his practice lineage.

Christina has also studied with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Soktse Rinpoche, Katok Getse Rinpoche, Tengboche Rinpoche, Chhoje Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Sogan Rinpoche, Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche, Yatse Khenpo, Khenpo Yeshe Gyaltsen, Khenpo Choying Dorje, and Khenpo Tashi Tseten.

Times for Teaching Sessions:

There will be four sessions, Saturday and Sunday, each morning and afternoon.

Saturday: 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The requested offering is $30 per session, or $120. Everyone is welcome to attend any one session or combination of sessions.

If you have a copy of the book, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Shambhala Publications, 2006), please bring it with you. Also, bring a notebook to take notes if that would be helpful for you.

Members: please use the member discount coupon code when you check out to apply a 15% discount. If you do not have the discount code, please email treasurer@pmctr.org.

Join us online if you can’t make it to Denver! Please make a note in the comments section when you register that you will be attending the weekend remotely and we will send the links to you.

PMC welcomes the Queer Dharma group to meet and practice in our space on the second and fourth Monday of each month  beginning  at 6:30 pm

Queer Dharma provides a space for LGBTQQI people to learn and practice meditation and Dharma.  We welcome all newcomers and experienced practitioners to share in a supportive, welcoming environment.

Together we practice meditation, study dharma, and discuss personal experiences with the intention of finding support and becoming more aware of our inherent basic goodness. Meditation instruction is available free of charge.

We have deep appreciation for our allies but hold this space for those who identify as LGBTQQI.

PMC generously offers space for us to meet. We ask that you reciprocate with an offering to PMC.

Suggested offering is $5

Death and the Art of Dying: The Karmic Bardo of Becoming

with Andrew Holecek

Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28, 2019

According to the Tibetan view, the bardo of becoming is where we will spend 49 days after death.  For most of us, it constitutes the entirety of our after-death experience.  It is a volatile time when the winds of karma/habit arise to blow us involuntarily into our next birth.  With preparation, it transforms into the bardo of opportunity, where we can literally become anything we want by directing these winds in the proper direction.  Without preparation, it accelerates into the bardo of panic, where a single thought can take on a life of its own and hurl us uncontrollably into an entire existence. Because mind becomes reality here, the Dalai Lama says of this bardo: “This is a very dangerous time.”  But it is also a very opportune time – if we are prepared.

Join us as we plunge into the realms that await us after death.  Learn what to expect, when to expect it, and what to do about it.  What is that reincarnates, and why do we reincarnate? What is phowa (ejection of consciousness) and how can it help me?  We will also learn techniques to help those who have died, for this is the bardo where we can most help the dead. The bardo teachings apply to life as much as to death, and can help us negotiate any situation that ends: a relationship, a job, even a state of mind. Understanding the principles of transition as they are applied to death can help us understand any transition in life. How can you shape your mind now and become what you truly want in this very life?

Session Timings:

Please join us for the full weekend or any part of the weekend!

Saturday:

Morning: 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Afternoon: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday:

Morning: 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Afternoon: 2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.