About the Center

Padmasambhava Meditation Center (PMC), founded and directed by Chhoje Tulku Rinpoche, is a place for the study and practice of meditation in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

What Padmasambhava Meditation Center Offers

PMC is a place where one can receive instruction on how to practice meditation.  With the guidance of a qualified teacher, one can work with one’s mind using the unique approach of the Vajrayana (tr. diamond vehicle). A warm, enthusiastic sangha and a supportive environment encourages the development of one’s meditation practice.

The center provides an opportunity to build a strong foundation for practice. There are opportunities to listen to teachings with Chhoje Tulku Rinpoche and other teachers in the Dudjom Tersar lineage, study Tibetan Buddhist texts, learn the preliminary practices (Tib: ngöndro), and participate in various ritual ceremonies. The goal of these programs is to integrate the practice of wisdom and compassion into our lives.

The sangha gathers to practice together every Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. We listen to recordings of Chhoje Rinpoche’s teachings and offer prayers for world peace and prosperity. Every Sunday morning from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the center is open for all to come and do his or her own practice. On special days throughout the year, the sangha gathers to make feast offerings and practice meditation together. When Chhoje Rinpoche is in Denver, he often leads these sessions.

PMC’s large and spacious meditation room has the capacity to welcome up to 450 people. The basement floor features a large dining hall, a large residential kitchen, and a library. A parking lot adjacent to the building offers ample space to park. In the reception area, there is a small shop where one can purchase items to support practice, such as thangkha paintings, ritual implements, prayer flags, and books. The center is wheelchair accessible from the main entrance via a service elevator.

Meditation cushions and chairs are provided in the main shrine room; attendees are welcome to bring their own cushions if they wish.

Our membership program is the foundation of on-going support for the center and for Rinpoche’s activities. Membership provides a consistent way for those interested to practice generosity and generate merit.

All activities of Padmasambhava Meditation Center are facilitated and managed by volunteers. For general questions or further information about PMC, please contact us.

Our Founder

Chhoje Tulku Rinpoche is a recognized lineage holder in both the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Drawing on a long history of traditional study and practice, Rinpoche is a highly qualified and beloved meditation master. His teachings are rooted in the Dudjom Tersar lineage.

Rinpoche has been teaching in North America since 1983. In 1989, he founded Padma Shedrup Ling, a study and practice center in California. Since then, he has taught throughout the U.S. and in many other countries. In 2012, he founded Padmasambhava Meditation Center (PMC) in Denver, Colorado. Rinpoche also oversees several monasteries and a nunnery in India, and supervises a variety of dharma projects in Nepal and Bhutan.

For more information about Chhoje Rinpoche and the teachers in our lineage, please visit the teachers page.

The Center’s Namesake: Padmasambhava

The center is named after Padmasambhava (tr. lotus-born), also known as Guru Rinpoche (tr. precious teacher), who was a great Indian Buddhist master and saint. Guru Rinpoche’s activities enabled Vajrayana Buddhism to take a firm hold in Tibet. Instrumental in the transmission of Vajrayana Buddhism from India to Tibet in the eighth century, he is often referred to as the second buddha, carrying on the work of Buddha Shakyamuni. It should be noted that there are multiple levels of Guru Rinpoche’s activities: historical, metaphorical, and psychological.

By inspiring the transformation of the country into a Buddhist nation, Guru Rinpoche and his teachings have helped Tibet and Tibetans thrive. He and his consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, hid many terma (Wylie: gter ma; concealed treasures) in lakes, caves, fields, and forests of the Himalayan region, to be discovered and interpreted by future tertön (Wylie: gter ston; treasure revealers). Guru Rinpoche and Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal established and concealed these teachings with the intention that they be progressively revealed, studied, and applied at the exact moments in time that they prove to be most beneficial.

Thus, Padmasambhava’s teachings are timely and profound. Those that are currently available are useful and relevant because they specifically address the unique inner and outer challenges we face today. When practiced with devotion, compassion, and diligence, under the guidance of a qualified teacher, the teachings are effective in awakening our true nature.