September 1-10, 2010

Introduction
Our annual ten-day retreat offers a wonderful opportunity to delve more deeply into the Dharma and to reconnect with one’s stable center of practice. In the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition, the path of meditation can be divided in two aspects: training in relative bodhicitta which is related to the development of loving kindness and compassion, and the training in ultimate bodhicitta related to wisdom. Based on these two principles, Buddhist masters have developed and synthesized the most effective methods for training one’s mind.

Course
This retreat will involve a combination of listening, contemplation and meditation. The retreat master will guide the participants on how to concentrate their minds and also on how to tame their self-centered emotions in order to develop an altruistic disposition. The attitude which accompanies one’s perception of ‘reality’ and interpersonal encounters is pivotal to the way these experiences affect one’s mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. In mind training, one therefore works with one’s mental habits, ‘reprogramming’ oneself in a wholesome manner and learning to see behind the facade to discover the unconditioned nature of the mind.

Teacher
Dr. Khenpo Ngawang Jorden studied the five branches of Buddhist philosophy at Sakya College in India under Khenchen Appey Rinpoche. Khenpo Jorden later taught at Sakya College before going to America to study at Harvard University where he completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies. Khenpo Jorden has retired from his teaching post at the University of Chicago and is now the Director of IBA in Kathmandu. His ease with Western culture and English fluency, combined with his understanding of Dharma, make him an ideal retreat guide for those seeking to introduce themselves into the art of meditation. Read more...

 
The seven points are:

1. The Preliminaries to Mind Training
2. The Main Practice of Training the Mind in Bodhichitta
3. Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening
4. Applying the Practice Throughout One's Whole Life
5. The Measure or Signs of Proficiency in Mind Training
6. The Commitments of Mind Training
7. The Precepts of Mind Training

Mind training (lojong; blo sbyong) is what differentiates a Buddhist practitioner from a mere believer. The degree to which the mind is free or still under the power of unwholesome and destructive patterns, which lead to the experience of suffering, is determined by the extent of one’s mind training.