January 14 -15, 2018

Teachings with Dr. Nick Ribush Sundays, January 14 and 21, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM While Geshela is in India, Dr. Nick Ribush has kindly accepted our request to teach four Sunday morning sessions. Geshela has expressed his deep appreciation of Nick many times by pointing out that when he was a little boy running around in Tibet, Nick was at that time a monk already teaching the Dharma. These sessions are a perfect opportunity to hear one of FPMT's longest serving students share his Dharma wisdom. Guru Devotion: Sundays, January 14 and 21 "Without guru devotion, nothing happens-no realizations, no liberation, no enlightenment - just as without the root of a tree there can be no trunk, branches, leaves or fruit. Everything, up to enlightenment, depends on guru devotion." - Lama Zopa Rinpoche Dr. Nick will explain the importance of the spiritual teacher, the correct way to develop a student-teacher bond, and offer commentary on the traditional guru devotion topics found in Lama Tsongkhapa's lam-rim. An excellent resource for further study of this topic is Lama Zopa Rinpoche's book, The Heart of the Path, available in our bookstore. Dr. Nick Ribush first encountered Buddhism at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 1972, when he attended the third one-month course given there. It was taught by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, two of the lamas most instrumental in the transmission of Buddhism to the West and founders of the FPMT, the international organization with which Kurukulla Center is affiliated. One of the main things that impressed Dr. Nick was the way Tibetan Buddhism distills the complexity of the vast Buddhist teachings into a clear path that can be understood and practiced by anybody, a roadmap to enlightenment (in Tibetan: lam-rim, the stages of the path). Another was that nobody was expected to accept what was taught unchallenged--everything is up for analysis and debate, following true scientific method. Dr. Nick has been directing the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive since founding it in 1996. Before that he founded and directed Wisdom Publications, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre and Kurukulla Center, and in general has worked full-time for the FPMT for more than forty-five years.

Feng Shui Workshop: The Year of the Earth Dog With Margaret Anderberg Saturday, January 13, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Are you ready for 2018? Join this workshop to prepare yourself and your environment for the Year of the Earth Dog. You will learn about: * The BaZi Chart for 2018 * The Annual Flying Star Map for 2018 * The Five Element technique for balancing energies * Space and energy clearing for your environment * The Afflictions you absolutely must know and what to do to suppress negative chi * The Auspicious sectors and how to activate positive chi for career, wealth, health and relationships. What is Feng Shui? Feng Shui is neither a religion nor a superstition, but an ancient Chinese practice that is both scientific and precise. Known as "Chi" or "Qi", energy exists all around us. We don't see it, but we feel and are affected by it. Much like electricity, it is invisible to the naked eye, but we benefit from the results of tapping into its power. Two Important Dates You Should Know The first is Chinese New Year. This is the start of the lunar calendar year and the date each year changes dependent upon the first New Moon of the year. The second date of importance is the Feng Shui New Year date. Unlike the lunar year date, the feng shui date follows the solar cycle and never changes. And while the animal year New Year date will change and vary from year to year, the feng shui date of February 4 stays the same. When to Make Your Feng Shui Changes Whenever you are ready to make the changes to your house to protect it, and hence your life, from dilemmas, accidents, illnesses, injuries and financial problems is always the best time. For annual feng shui changes, you can choose to make your placements on February 4th or sooner. Either is fine. Even so, it is recommended that sometime in the month preceding the new Feng Shui Year, you should begin preparing to greet the annual shift in energies by making changes around your home, in your office and in your bedroom. * Bring your own floor plan / 9-grid layout plan and work on the feng shui updates for your home/office. Suggested Donation: $68 (Proceeds will benefit Kurukulla Center) Registration: Please e-mail Margaret (margaret@kurukulla.org) to register. Margaret Anderberg is an expert in Classical Feng Shui; which includes Form Feng Shui, Personal Kua Feng Shui, Compass Feng Shui, 8 Mansion Aspirations Feng Shui and Advanced Flying Star Feng Shui of the Time and Space dimensions. Margaret's first encounter with Classical Feng Shui was in 1993 while an executive with a major U.S. Bank in Hong Kong.

There will be live webcasts of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's three day teaching on "Dharmachakra Parivaretan - Sutra on The Four Noble Truths" & "Sutra on Dependent Origination" in the mornings from Bodhgaya, Bihar, India on January 5-7, 2018 at the request of a group of Indians. His Holiness will speak in Tibetan with an English translation available. There are also webcasts in: Tibetan: https://livestream.com/DalaiLamaTibetan/bodhgaya-2018-Indian Chinese: https://livestream.com/accounts/7896262/bodhgaya-2018-Indian Russian: https://livestream.com/DalaiLamaRussian/bodhgaya-2018-Indian Vietnamese: https://livestream.com/DalaiLamaVietnamese/bodhgaya-2018-Indian Korean: https://www.youtube.com/user/dalailamakorean and Hindi: https://livestream.com/DalaiLamaHindi/bodhgaya-2018-Indian The next teachings will be at 8:30 am - 11:30 am Indian Standard Time (10:00 pm EST, January 5th and 6th)

PLEASE NOTE The Center will be closed Friday evening, January 5th, through Monday morning, January 8th, to provide a peaceful and quiet environment for our Nyung Nä retreat participants. The Center doors will be closed, and nobody will be allowed entry during the retreat. Thank you for your understanding and support of this wonderful retreat experience!

The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination with Ven. Tenzin Gache Wednesday, January 3, 7:00 - 9:00 pm His Holiness the Dalai Lama often comments that as Buddhists, our distinctive practice is non-violence, and our distinctive view is dependent origination. His Holiness's comments echo a common strand in the Buddhist tradition: Lama Tsongkhapa claimed that there was no teaching of the Buddha more profound than dependent origination, and Nagarjuna began most of his works by praising the "one who taught dependent origination." Venerable Gache will be giving an overview of this vast and profound topic. You can also read more in this article that he wrote for FPMT Mandala Magazine: https://fpmt.org/mandala/online-features/personalizing-the-twelve-links-of-dependent-origination/ All Welcome! Ven. Tenzin Gache (Brian Roiter) is an American monk living at Sera International Mahayana Institute (IMI) House in Bylakuppe, India, and studying at Sera Je Monastic University.

Medicine Buddha Puja Tuesday, January 2, 7:00 - 8:30 pm Puja is a Sanskrit word that means pleasing by making offerings. Making offering prayers to the Medicine Buddhas is the same as offering to numberless buddhas and brings inconceivable merit like the limitless sky. The special mantra of the Medicine Buddha quickly actualizes prayers that the Medicine Buddhas made in the past: to bring happiness to all beings by showing them the causes of enlightenment, pacifying their problems, fulfilling their positive wishes and, especially, helping those afflicted by illness. The Medicine Buddha practice is extremely powerful and beneficial for the sick and dying, helps those who have already passed away, allows those practicing healing methods to benefit others more profoundly and helps bring success in general. Since most of the recitation is done in English, the Medicine Buddha Puja is easily accessible to even those who are not familiar with this type of chanting ceremony/practice. All are welcome! Photo: Medicine Buddha painted by Peter Iseli

Thursday, December 28, 7:00 - 8:45 pm Lama Chopa (Guru Puja) The word puja means "to please" and has the connotation of pleasing through making offerings and engaging in practice. The Guru Puja lays the whole path to enlightenment on our mindstream, connects us more strongly to our teachers, allows us to accumulate skies of merit and purifies eons of negative karma. We chant the first 2/3rds of this puja in Tibetan and the last 1/3 we recite in English. We recommend bringing offerings of some sort - food, unscented tea lights, flowers, etc., as a way of earning merit. By making donations at, or sponsoring, a specific puja, you are strengthening and empowering the merit you receive in relationship to that puja, in this case the merit we receive by celebrating our gurus and the immeasurable benefit they have offered all sentient beings.

Wednesday, December 27, 7:00 - 9:00 pm Memorization in Tibetan Buddhism with Venerable Tenzin Gache Venerable Tenzin Gache has kindly accepted our request to give a talk on the role of memorization in the study of Buddhism and how we can start to incorporate this into our studies. Venerable Gache (Brian Roiter) is an American monk living at Sera International Mahayana Institute (IMI) House in Bylakuppe, India, and studying at Sera Je Monastic University. In August 2013, Ven. Gache became one of the very few Westerners to participate in the rik chung debate held at Sera Je Monastic University in South India, a tradition instituted in the 17th century by Desi Sangye Gyatso, the regent to the Fifth Dalai Lama. Ven. Gache is a top memorizer and debater and one of 16 from his class of 118 chosen to participate in the debate. In this article in Mandala Magazine, Ven. Gache describes life as a monk in the geshe program and how he came to be a rik chung: https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2013/october/greatest-honor-becoming-a-rik-chung/

Teachings on the Vajrasattva Purification Practice with Dr. Nick Ribush Sunday, December 31, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Dr. Nick Ribush will be teaching on the Vajrasattva purification practice and provide instruction on the method. Common to all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of Vajrasattva is used to purify obstacles to spiritual development, negative karma, and illness. Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches that if you want others to love you, you must first love others. If you benefit others, naturally they will benefit you. The cause and effect of karma is as simple as this. The Vajrasattva purification practice, which is more powerful than negative karma, can prevent you from experiencing the problems that negative karma would otherwise bring you. Thus, the practice of purification is one of the most important solutions to our problems and is extremely necessary. Dr. Nick Ribush, first encountered Buddhism at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 1972, when he attended the third one-month course given there. It was taught by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, two of the lamas most instrumental in the transmission of Buddhism to the West and founders of the FPMT, the international organization with which Kurukulla Center is affiliated. One of the main things that impressed Dr. Nick was the way Tibetan Buddhism distills the complexity of the vast Buddhist teachings into a clear path that can be understood and practiced by anybody, a roadmap to enlightenment (in Tibetan: lam-rim, the stages of the path). Another was that nobody was expected to accept what was taught unchallenged-everything is up for analysis and debate, following true scientific method. Dr. Nick has been directing the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive since founding it in 1996. Before that he founded and directed Wisdom Publications, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre and Kurukulla Center, and in general has worked full-time for the FPMT for more than forty-five years.