Modern Day Bodhisattva Training

“A Modern Day Bodhisattva strives to become a lamp for others: for friends, family, community, and all others with whom he or she is in contact.”

-- Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

The Modern Day Bodhisattva Training program has two components:  the annual Modern Day Bodhisattva Training Seminar, taught by Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Modern Day Bodhisattva Training, led by senior students of Mangala Shri Bhuti.

Bodhisattvas recognize that all sentient beings are alike in continually moving toward joy and away from pain. As a result, they devote their lives to attaining enlightenment for the benefit of all. Although we may feel far removed from the conditions in which the great bodhisattvas of the past trained, our present everyday circumstances offer us equally powerful opportunities to examine our minds, open our hearts, and develop the supreme altruism of a bodhisattva.

Though these practices form the very foundation of the Buddhist path, they have the potential to transform the lives of anyone who takes them to heart, regardless of spiritual background. Not only are the principles of self-reflection and altruism universally applicable, they are indispensable resources for anyone wishing to find true meaning, contentment, and peace in life.

Modern Day Bodhisattva Training Seminar with Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

In each Modern Day Bodhisattva (MDB) Training Seminar, Kongtrul Rinpoche discusses how to transform our constant and painful preoccupation with our own happiness and suffering into an expansive, joyous concern for the welfare of all beings. We cultivate an aspiration to benefit others through the practice of the four immeasurables: contemplations on equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy. We deepen this aspiration by practicing tonglen, a powerful meditative technique to broaden our minds and increase our care for others. Finally, we put our intention into action by practicing the six transcendent perfections: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom. As he does during every MDB Seminar, Rinpoche will teach on these core principles in a fresh, personal way that connects to modern day students and inspires us to make the most of our lives.  

The MDB Seminar program includes four talks, periods of meditation, discussion groups, and a ceremony for those who would like to take refuge and bodhisattva vows. For Information please contact MSB Study and Practice.

To find out more please download Pema Osel's Visitor's Guide.

Modern Day Bodhisattva Training Weekends Led by Senior MSB Students

MDB Foundational Training
Four Training Weekends:
Equanimity
Loving-Kindness
Compassion
Sympathetic Joy
The foundational level of MDB Training comprises four training weekends, each focusing on one of the four immeasurables.Though the four immeasurables are commonly meditated upon as a unified sequence, there is also a tradition of meditating on them in separate sessions. The MDB Training program follows the latter tradition. Each weekend training will be complete in itself; students are not required to attend all four weekends or to take the trainings in any order. However, completing all four Foundational Training weekends is a prerequisite to registering for the Paramita Training weekends. Each weekend program is led by a senior student of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche who is authorized by Rinpoche as an MDB Training instructor. So while the focus of each weekend will be to study Rinpoche's recorded and written teachings on the four immeasurables, Rinpoche himself will not be leading or attending MDB Training weekend programs in-person.

MDB Paramita Training
Five Training Weekends:
Tonglen
Generosity
Discipline
Patience
Meditation and Wisdom  
A bodhisattva is someone who engages deeply in life and vows to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Enlightenment is realized not by achieving something externally or by manipulating the world, but by seeing things as they are. From that realization, a deep yearning to benefit beings (bodhicitta) effortlessly arises. After completing all four Foundational Training weekends, one may then register for Paramita Training weekends. The five weekend programs that make up Paramita level of training focus on the bodhisattva vow and the path of the six transcendent perfections: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. (Diligence is integrated into all five weekends.) Each weekend program is led by a senior student of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche who is authorized by Rinpoche as an MDB Training instructor. So while the focus of each weekend will be to study Rinpoche's recorded and written teachings on the four immeasurables, Rinpoche himself will not be leading or attending MDB Training weekend programs in-person.

2013 MDB Training Program Course Offerings
Equanimity Weekend
Love and compassion are inherent qualities of the mind, yet we limit their power by narrowing the scope of our care to ourselves and those close to us. During this weekend program, we will explore the possibility of widening our love and compassion to include an immeasurable number of living beings. This vastly expanded care is known as equanimity because it is free of ego-based attachment to those close to us, aversion to adversaries, and indifference to strangers. The program is intended for those who wish to begin or deepen a spiritual path founded on self-reflection and cultivating a good heart.

Equanimity Weekend Programs:

Each of the following weekend programs will be led by a senior student of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche who is authorized by Rinpoche as an MDB Training instructor. So while the focus of each weekend will be to study Rinpoche's recorded and written teachings on the four immeasurables, Rinpoche himself will not be leading or attending MDB Training weekend programs in-person. Please contact us if you are interested in registering for a weekend program listed below.

Equanimity Weekend Program
Boulder, Colorado
Location TBD
Friday Aug. 9, 2013
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturday Aug. 10, 2013
9:00am – 5:00pm
Program Cost TBD

Equanimity Weekend Program
Pema Osel
Vershire, Vermont
Friday Oct. 25, 2013
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturday Oct. 26, 2013
9:00am – 5:00pm
Program Cost TBD