Browse Schedule by Category: Retreats / Online Courses
Buddhist Women in the 2020’s (Online Course)
While there may be frustration, grief and rage about historical gender inequity in Buddhism, we can use Buddhist methodologies to transform these conflicting emotions into greater compassion and wisdom. Join Catherine Pawasarat Sensei for this course, hosted by Menla, on how we can adapt and shift our traditional perceptions of gender as Buddhist practitioners. All are welcome. Image: Thangka of Yeshe Tsogyal, fully awakened consort of Padmasambhava. © C. PawasaratA Menla Online Course Buddhist Women in the 2020's Stepping into greater awakening potentialGender Perceptions in the Buddhist World in the 2020's As classic Buddhist teachings emerge in the global mainstream, it adapts to cultures where women enjoy relative equality with men. In such contexts many practitioners may naturally feel that women and men have the same opportunities to awaken. Historically, however, birth in a female body was considered the result of bad karma, and the lowest and youngest monks enjoyed greater formal status than the most realized nun. Western women and men are unlikely to embrace this part of Buddhist tradition. This confluence of cultures presents a transition ripe with opportunity. While there may be frustration, grief and rage about historical gender inequity in Buddhism, we can use Buddhist methodologies to transform these conflicting emotions into greater compassion and wisdom. Furthermore, we can re-examine how different Mahayana and Theravadin practices—from Tantra to celibacy—can foster healthier sexuality. We can use sex scandals and discrimination as part of our practice, to cultivate more integrated views and relations among all genders. Along the […]
Exploring the Bardo of Now – Meditation Retreat (Online)
Bardos relate to both living and dying, creating and dissolving. In 2020, we collectively had the rug pulled out from underneath us by the COVID-19 virus. During this retreat, we will investigate the bardos and what they can teach us about life and impermanence. *Due to the ever-changing travel restrictions, globally and in Canada, this course is now offered online. Exploring the Bardo of Now During this retreat, we will investigate the bardos and what they can teach us about ordinary life. We’ll draw on Vajrayana Buddhism, contemporary psychology and modern exploration practices to learn how to make peace with the bardos and live more fully in the present moment. Free Infographic: What Happens to Consciousness During the Death Process? Add your information below to receive the infographic. You will also get amazing dharma content from Planet Dharma, directly to your email inbox. We promise not to spam!Why Exploring the Bardo of Now? June 19-25, 2021Why a meditation retreat on the Bardos?Bardos relate to both living and dying, creating and dissolving. Bardos can appear at any time, and may make us feel we have lost all of our stability and reference points. However, they also offer us an opportunity to explore what is dying and prepare for a new birth. Bardo study is relevant to people of all ages, regardless how old they are or how close to dying they are. Who is this retreat ideal for?This retreat is ideal for relatively new students who are interested in exploring Buddhist principles that include both Eastern and […]
Digital Dojo: Spiritual Questions, Powerful Answers
Digital Dojo is a virtual question and answer session. Asking questions to spiritual mentors is a powerful and traditional method of learning. You're invited!
Summer Meditation Retreat: Breathing (Online)
Clear Sky Meditation & Study Centre 3567 Cockell Rd, Bull River, British Columbia, CanadaA one week meditation retreat on powerful breathing meditation practice. Please note that registration closes July 4th 2021.The meditation on Mindfulness of Breathing is not only suitable for all beings, it is also the direct way to enlightenment.Summer Meditation Retreat: Breathing Breathing. You can't beat it, for life, and as a meditation practice. Breathing meditation is suitable for all types of people. It develops, concentration, calm, bliss and insight - altogether leading to awakening and healing. This meditation retreat will be led by Achariya Doug Duncan Sensei and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei at Clear Sky Meditation Center in Eastern BC, and will now held online, with participation possible from anywhere in the world. While we believe any undertaking can be a vehicle for awakening, there’s no substitute for the power of one’s own profound experience of truth, gained through meditation. This is why meditation is one of the four foundational practices of our teaching. A guiding text for this retreat will be the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, or discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, which has been described as the most profound discourse the Buddha ever gave on mental development. This simple yet powerful framework will extend your meditation experience to everything from subatomic particles to the vastness of space, and all that’s between. Online Retreat Option Can't fly here? Do the retreat where you are. It most likely won't be possible to retreat at Clear Sky this year. Instead, join us from wherever you are in the world. Basic requirements to do the retreat online: […]
Enlighten-Up!
Uncompromising, unflinching and kick-ass dharma classes. Vajrayana Teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat present a new topic each month. Join online from anywhere in the world.
Digital Dojo: Spiritual Questions, Powerful Answers
Digital Dojo is a virtual question and answer session. Asking questions to spiritual mentors is a powerful and traditional method of learning. You're invited!
Clear Sky’s Sweet 16th Anniversary with Tantric Empowerments
In Vajrayana Buddhism, initiations, empowerments or wongkur (Tib. དབང་, wang) are considered the spring from which all blessings flow. Join us for three empowerments, during a weekend of joy to celebrate our retreat centre's 16th anniversary. Important Note: Online registrations close by August 10th In person registrations close by August 3rd Celebration & Tantric Empowerments Celebration time! Covid-19 travel restrictions threw a wrench in our plans for Clear Sky's 15th Anniversary and ten day Tantric Deep Dive in 2020, as well as in 2021. We've adjusted the programming so that community can come together from anywhere in the world for a three day celebration instead. It will be online, *and if health restrictions ease, possibly in person as well. To fete Doug Sensei's 72nd year, together with 16 remarkable years at Clear Sky we invite you to join us for three empowerments. These empowerments give you an energetic blessing, and access to practice mantra and visualisation of different transcendental archetypes from the Himalayan schools of Buddhism. Over the weekend, we will celebrate Clear Sky's 16th anniversary - sharing our community's stories from past and present as well as future visions.. The three wongkur empowerments will be interspersed throughout the weekend. Held at Clear Sky, a 21st-century model for innovative awakening, situated in the beautiful B.C. Rocky Mountains. The Empowerments Offered Green Tara Amitayus Vajrapani Hayagriva Garuda These empowerments are open to the general public (live attendance). They are special ceremonies that are best experienced in person. However, if […]
Dzogchen Meditation Retreat – Opening to the Clear Light of the Mind (Online & UK Residential)
Maitreya House Lower Maes-coed, Hereford, England, United KingdomAugust 21-31, 2021 Beneath the confusion and distraction of our minds, the Mind itself is empty, spontaneous and compassionate. The practice of Dzogchen helps us cut right through the confusion to this original, pure and luminous nature of Mind. This retreat, with meditation masters Acharya Doug Duncan And Catherine Pawasarat Sensei, is for any meditator looking to go deeper to the essence of practice. Dzogchen The Natural State The Three Words that Strike the Vital Point is one of the principal teachings of the practice of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Patrul Rinpoche’s Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King, with commentary, is treasured as one of the most crucial instructions in the practice of Dzogchen. It’s pith teachings give simple yet deeply profound guidance on directly recognizing the mind’s innate purity and clarity. In the confusion of our times, a myriad of teachings and techniques surround us. The direct teachings of Dzogchen offer a refreshing clarity.Opening to the Clear Light of the Mind Dzogchen Meditation Retreat (Online/ UK Residential / At Clear Sky) 21 – 31 August 2021 **See ‘Covid-19 Retreat Modifications’ below photos: Online and UK Residential Retreat (Updated June 20, 2021)“How wonderful! Nothing whatsoever, a glaring openness. An openness that is penetrating; a penetrating openness that is indescribable … Direct recognition within yourself; that is the first vital point.” -- Patrul Rinpoche from The three words that strike the vital point, a root text expounding Garab Dorje’s teachings on Dzogchen – the Great Perfection. […]
The Great Healing (Enlighten-Up!)
What kind of circumlocutious course has the Seven Rays taken through human spirituality? How has it been expressed through the body of teachings from Namgyal Rinpoche? More pointedly, how can it be useful to us today, when healing is so longed for and needed?
Baltic Sea Region Dharma Trip 2021
Bring your dharma to the road, or in this case, the water! Join Doug and Catherine Sensei for a cruise of the Baltic Sea Region, from Stockholm to Amsterdam in September 2021.Baltic Sea Region Dharma Trip A Dharma Voyage, from Stockholm to Amsterdam Bring your dharma to the road, or in this case, the water! Join Doug and Catherine Sensei for a twelve day cruise of the Baltic Sea Region, in September 2021. Dharma trips provide an opportunity to spend precious time with your teachers and sangha outside of more familiar contexts. On Dharma trips, you are constantly moving, seeing and experiencing new things. This takes us outside of our comfort zone, and provides a rich environment for growth. You might even discover things about yourself you never knew, and find new ways of being and communicating. Where will we visit on this trip?Including our departure and destination ports, there are stops in 10 cities on this trip. They include: Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), St Petersberg (Russia) (2 nights), Tallin (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Copenhagen (Denmark), Berlin (Germany), Malmo (Sweden), Oslo (Norway), Amsterdam (Netherlands). Enjoy some photos of these destinations below:Baltic Sea Region Dharma Trip 2021 FAQsThis is a cruise around the perimeter of the Baltic Sea, beginning in Stockholm and ending in Amsterdam. It’s called “Castles to Cobblestones.” See the webpage for this cruise: Oceania Cruises.Including our departure and destination ports, there are stops in 10 cities: Stockholm, Sweden Helsinki, Finland, St Petersberg, Russia (2 nights) Tallin, Estonia Riga, Latvia Copenhagen, Denmark […]