Green Tara Day-Long Practice Intensive: Virtual Retreat

March 19, 2022

With Magyu Lopön Charlotte Rotterdam. Green Tara sits with one foot in the meditative posture and one foot extended, thus embodying active compassion and serving as a model for modern day contemplative life. We invite you to join us for a day of deep practice to connect with the luminous compassion of Green Tara and our innate awakened heart.  … More Green Tara Day-Long Practice Intensive: Virtual Retreat

Cutting Through Views: Three Practice Verses by Machig Labdrön

Published on the Lion’s Roar website

Machig Labdrön, the founder of Chöd, taught there is no view we can’t cut through, no perspective we can’t let go of. Charlotte Z. Rotterdam shares three verses by Machig that we can carry with us in our daily lives.
Click here to read the article on Lion’s Roar https://www.lionsroar.com/cutting-through-views-three-practice-verses-by-machig-labdron/More Cutting Through Views: Three Practice Verses by Machig Labdrön

“Look in the Way of Not Looking:” Reflections from Retreat

In May 2020, I had the fortune of engaging in one month of solitary retreat, supported by a grant from the Hemera Foundation. I spent a portion of my time reading, studying and contemplating the writings of Machig Labdrön, the great 11th century Tibetan yogini. I chose “slogans” or pith instructions to bring into my … More “Look in the Way of Not Looking:” Reflections from Retreat

Awakened Heart: Reflections on these Times

There is such a vast array of emotions circulating through us in these strange times. I hear about sadness, uncertainty, anxiety, fear. I also hear about gratitude, a sense of connectedness, inspiration, even joy. Within my own heart-mind there’s a swirl of emotions that move from calm to excitedness, spaciousness to tightness. One thing seems … More Awakened Heart: Reflections on these Times

Chöd: Cutting Through Ego-Clinging

January 10-12, 2020 / Near Los Angeles, CA Lopön Charlotte Rotterdam and Pieter Oosthuizen Chöd (literally to ‘sever’ or ‘cut through’) is a thousand-year-old Tibetan Buddhist practice for meeting and engaging fears and fixations through the practice of compassion and generosity. Visualizing an offering of our own body to that which would seemingly destroy us, we … More Chöd: Cutting Through Ego-Clinging

Jewel of the Charnel Ground

There’s something hauntingly inspiring about the charnel ground image for me, the place where that which we continuously avoid and cover up is finally revealed, exposed, laid bare. With its half-rotting corpses, partially chewed limbs and sun-bleached bones, the charnel ground is without pretense, raw, unabashed in its display of impermanence. In early Buddhist teachings, … More Jewel of the Charnel Ground

Enough Already! Hungry Ghosts & the Practice of Savoring

There’s a certain time of day when I get the nibbles – usually late afternoon but sometimes at night, right before bed. I open kitchen cabinets, the fridge, the chip drawer scanning what might satisfy me. But there’s something insatiable in my being. In reality I’m not really hungry, I’m not really looking for food. … More Enough Already! Hungry Ghosts & the Practice of Savoring

Vajra Pride: Awakening Primordial Self-Esteem

I’ve always thought of Pride as one of the Seven Deadly Sins, right up there with Lust, Gluttony and Avarice. In the Buddhist tradition, pride is one of the five poisons, accompanied by a similar entourage of desire, jealousy, anger and ignorance. Pride, of course, evokes the image of a puffed-out chest, an overly confident … More Vajra Pride: Awakening Primordial Self-Esteem