This Mindful Recovery meeting is open to those interested in the use of Buddhist teachings and practices to help people recover from the suffering caused by addictive behaviors and is open to people of all backgrounds, and respectful of all recovery paths.

This meeting combines meditation, study, and group discussion of Buddhist teachings and Twelve Step literature. Our group is intended as a supplement to, rather than a substitute for, Twelve Step work. We strongly encourage you to fully work the Twelve Steps as part of your personal program of recovery.

Each Tuesday evening, we begin at 7:00 p.m. (note this is a new time effective 11/20/18)  downstairs in the community room at PMC. We will begin with meditation instruction and twenty minutes of meditation. We then introduce ourselves however we feel comfortable, followed by the week’s group leader sharing a topic and passing the Talking Stick. Our discussion lasts approximately one hour and we follow the Twelve Step tradition of respecting anonymity and refraining from cross-talk or advice-giving.

We close the meeting with a prayer for world peace and a dedication of merit following the Buddhist tradition of PMC. We encourage you to sign up on the calendar to lead future meetings and share your experience, strength, and hope.

The Padmasambhava Meditation Center generously allows us the use of this space and we ask that you reciprocate when we pass the donation basket.

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.