Mahamudra Teaching

by Venerable Khenpo Karten Rinpoche

Saturday and Sunday, July 8 and 9, 2023

10:00am to 12:00pm & 2:00pm to 4:00pm (Pacific Time) each day 

 

Four sessions in total, held in-person and on Zoom 

In-person attendees limited to 22 people

Open to all who have taken refuge or who have the basic foundations of Buddhist teachings 

Registration required, donations requested, but no one turned away for lack of funds

Suggested donation:  $40.00 per day or $60.00 for all four sessions

REGISTER HERE

What is Mahamudra?

The Tibetan nonsectarian, Jamgon Kongtrul, characterizes mahāmudrā as the path to realizing the “mind as it is” (Tibetan: sems nyid) which also stands at the core of all Kagyu paths. He states, “In general, Mahamudra and everything below it are the ‘mind path’ ” (Tibetan: sems lam). Mahāmudrā traditionally refers to the quintessence of mind itself and the practice of meditation in relation to a true understanding of it. (Source, Wikipedia)

Here is a 2013 teaching by Khenpo Karten Rinpoche here:  Mahamudra’s Four Stages of Yoga – Manjushri Dharma Center

Texts

The Ganges Mahāmudrā Instructions by Tilopa

༄༅། །ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོའི་མན་ངག

Tilopa (T. ti lo pa ཏི་ལོ་པ་) (988–1069) was an Indian tantric practitioner who is counted among the eighty-four mahasiddhas. In Tibet, and he is known as the originator of the Kagyu lineage and the teacher of Naropa.  Source:  Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Tilopa – Encyclopedia of Buddhism)

Image courtesy of the Himalayan Art Resources

 

A Way of Settling into the Realization of Mind’s Essence by Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo

༄༅། །སེམས་ངོ་འཇོག་ཐབས་བཞུགས་སོ། །

Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo (b. 1925-?) was a highly respected lama in Eastern Tibet and one of the primary teachers of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (the 11th Trungpa tulku) and the 9th Thrangu Rinpoche. Khenpo Gangshar was trained in Shechen Monastery, a monastic center established in the end of the seventeenth century and part of the Mindröling lineage within the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.  He was the teacher of Kyabje Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche, and Sangye Tenzin was the kind Root Guru of our own Khenpo Karten Rinpoche. Source: Wikipedia (Gangshar Wangpo – Wikipedia)

Image courtesy of the Himalayan Art Resources

Registration, Donation, and Participation

Step one: REGISTER

    • Please use our EVENTBRITE REGISTRATION
    • PLEASE NOTE:  This teaching is not open to the public, but only to those who have “a basic foundation of Buddhist teachings,” or who have taken refuge with Rinpoche or another teacher.   If you have questions as to whether or not you should attend, please email [email protected], and we will forward your question to Rinpoche.

Step two:  DONATE  

    • This is a fundraiser for the Manjushri Dharma Center, so your generosity in giving $40.00 per day or $60.00 for the entire teaching is appreciated. If you cannot donate at this time, please know you are still welcome to join all sessions. Using EventBrite, you will indicate any amount comfortable for you to complete registration.  A minimum donation of $1.00 is required to process the registration on EventBrite.  All donations are tax deductible.
    • Dana:  When you register with EventBrite, you will have the opportunity to offer dana (a monetary gift of respect) for Khenpo Karten Rinpoche and translator/interpreter Jampa Tharchin (David Molk). 
    • Other Ways to Donate:
      • Via Pay Pal: Going directly through Pay Pal is an alternative way to give and support Khenpo Karten Rinpoche and his Dharma teachings.  Please log into PayPal directly at https://www.paypal.com/ and enter your login information. Then select “Send” and enter the following email: [email protected] and this will reach Manjushri Dharma Center. You may put the name “Manjushri Dharma Center” in the name if it requires it. You may put a note in the payment to specify that the donation is for Dana or any specific fund or purpose. We will make sure to honor your intentions.
      • Via Venmo: @manjushridharmacenter831 or see our MDC giving webpage for the Venmo QR code
      • Via the Mail:  Please make checks payable to “Manjushri Dharma Center” and mail to Manjushri Dharma Center, 724 Forest Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950. You may put a note in the payment to specify that the donation is for the retreat or Dana etc. We will make sure to honor your intentions.
      • For any payment questions please contact:  Pam Krone, MDC Co-Treasurer:  [email protected]

Step three:  PARTICIPATE

    • In-person:  at Manjushri Dharma Center, 724 Forest Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950 (In-person attendees limited to 22 people)
    • Online via Zoom:  The Zoom link will be sent to registered participants 3 days prior to the teaching, and it will be sent again as a courtesy the day prior to the teaching, and 15 minutes prior to the teaching.

Zoom Link and Zoom Assistance

PLEASE REGISTER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK

The Zoom link will be sent to registered participants 3 days prior to the teaching, and it will be sent again as a courtesy the day prior to the teaching, and 15 minutes prior to the teaching.  This will be a different link than the one that is usually used for our Monday night chanted prayers and Saturday meditation.

If you cannot find the Zoom link, or are having trouble logging in on the day of the teaching, please email: [email protected] and a volunteer will assist you.

 

About the Venerable Khenpo Karten Rinpoche

Khenpo Karten Rinpoche is an accomplished teacher and practitioner of the Karma Kagyu Lineage and is also trained in the Nyingma Lineage of Buddhism. He was born in the beautiful mountains of the Himalayas of Tibet.  At the age of twelve, he was ordained at Ja-pa monastery, where he began his formal education of reading, writing and ritual practice. At the age of fifteen having completed the basic studies, he furthered his studies in the Sutra and Tantric texts under the accomplished master Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and Pema Tsewang Rinpoche for eight years. Subsequently Khenpo Karten Rinpoche went to the hermitage of anther accomplished teacher, Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche and completed five years of retreat under the great master. In the retreat he completed the practices of the Naropa’s six yoga, Mahamudra and many others.  In recognition of his achievements, Sangye Tenzin Ringpoche bestowed upon him the title, Khenpo Karma Lekshe Tharchin in 1994.

In 1996, he left Tibet and traveled to Dharamsala, India to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Upon His Holiness’ advice, he spent another two years doing retreat. H.H Dalai Lama also recognizing his achievement, bestowed upon him the title Khenpo Rinpoche. After his retreat, Khenpo Karten Rinpoche was requested by H.E Tai Situ Rinpoche to go to the monastery of Venerable Tsoknyi Rinpoche, to teach the young monks there.

Khenpo Karten arrived in the United States in 2008, and taught in the Monterey Bay area for the first time in September of that year. After meeting a group of prospective students and seeing the hills of Big Sur which remind him of Tibet, he returned in 2009 to make the Monterey Bay his permanent home. Since then, Rinpoche has established the Manjushri Dharma Center (MDC) in Pacific Grove, California, which has become his main teaching location and his home residence.  With unflinching faith in the precious Buddha Dharma, Khenpo Karten Rinpoche, now a U.S. citizen, bestows sacred teachings to thousands of people all over the world, with weekly teachings and events.

 

About David Molk aka Jampa Tharchin, esteemed Translator, Interpreter, and Author

David Molk studied Tibetan language at Venerable Geshe Rabten’s Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Mont-Pèlerin, Switzerland. Since 1987 he has interpreted and translated for many Tibetan lamas. He lives in Big Sur, California.

Learn more about David’s translated books:  David Molk (shambhala.com)

 

 

Photos Courtesy of Miles McBreen (Karma Palden)

The photos below and used in this teaching announcement are from Saturday, April 22, 2023, Earthday, taken in the Carmel Valley by Rinpoche’s kind student Karma Palden. The photo near Khenpola’s biography is from 2015, taken in Big Sur.