Meeting the Moment with an Open Heart: Daily Compassion Practice We will come together online (via Zoom) for daily meditation and compassion practices to meet the uncertainty, tenderness, and potential for lovingkindness in these times. This is the moment to tap into our interconnectedness and the healing capacity of our practice. We will introduce and … More Daily Compassion Meditation: Ended May 1, 2020
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
It’s easy to feel compassion for those closest to us, our loved ones or those who have been generous to us. Our care arises almost of its own accord. On the other end of the spectrum is the goal of feeling love and compassion for our enemies; this is the lofty aim of many traditions … More Everyday Compassion: Minding the Stranger
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
March 24 – 30, 2019
Join us for a luminous 6-day retreat in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Held at beautiful Sacha Munay Retreat Center, our days include yoga and meditation; inspiring non-dual teachings and practices rooted in the most profound view of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; and two excursions, including to Machu Picchu, one of the world’s most sacred sites. Our retreat integrates sensory awareness… … More Journey to Peru’s Sacred Valley: Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom, Meditation & Yoga
September 29 – 30, 2018
Encinitas, CA
Taught by Pieter O and Lopon Charlotte Rotterdam, with guided somatic movement by Gretchen Donovan … More Feeding Your Demons in California
July 18 – 23, 2018 Pieter Oosthuizen and Polly Ryan Tara Mandala Retreat Center, Pagosa Springs, CO Inspired by the ancient practice of Chöd, Feeding Your Demons® is a five-step process created by Lama Tsultrim Allione that allows us to offer compassion and understanding to our own inner demons rather than engaging in battle and … More Feeding Your Demons®: Kapala Training Level I
July 7 – 14, 2018 Lopön Charlotte Rotterdam Tara Mandala Retreat Center, Pagosa Springs, CO In this retreat we will study how the Vajrayana developed historically and learn the fundamentals of Vajrayana practice. Lopön Charlotte will give an introduction to the 5 Buddha families, the mandala principle and deity yoga, as well as transmission for … More Vajrayana: The Mandala Principle
This retreat will explore new developments that took place during the Mahayana period such as the Prajnaparamita Sutra, Madhyamaka and Yogacara philosophies, Buddha Nature, and the greater emphasis on compassionate motivation. Meditations on Tonglen, the Four Immeasurables, and the Six Paramitas will also be taught. … More Mahayana: Vast View, Open Heart
Join us to embody Green Tara, the female Buddha of compassion, who provides protection from fears and obstacles. She sits with one foot in the meditative posture and one foot in the world, thus embodying active compassion and serving as a model for modern day contemplative life. In this retreat you will learn the Green Tara practice from the Luminous Secret Vajra Treasury, a treasure cycle of Adzom Drukpa. … More Green Tara Retreat
SKYMIND 