CANCELLED THIS MONTH Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga / Mahamudra

CANCELLED JUNE 9, 2023 WHEN: Monthly, alternating between the 2nd and 4th Fridays.  7.00 – 9.00 pm CETWHERE: OnlineLEVEL: Intermediate. Some basic understanding of Mahayana Buddhism is of benefit. Beginners are welcome! LANGUAGE: English. According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche it is good to base your LamRim meditation on a Guru Yoga practice, such as Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga (the Hundred Deities of Tushita - Ganden Lha Gyama). Find the sadhana here: Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga Mahamudra, a Sanskrit word meaning “great seal,” refers to an advanced and sophisticated system of meditation on the nature of the mind, and the realizations gained through it. Having a focus shifting from the content to the experience of the experience, the ultimate goal is to achieve a non-dual awareness by observing emptiness (Sanskrit: Shunyata) like “a mindful fish not even stirring the water while swimming”. Recommended reading: Click here   PRACTICAL INFORMATION Cost: You would make us very happy by supporting us with a donation. Suggested donation is 0-40 CHF for a session. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. You can donate online (via Paypal, Twint or E-Banking). Language: English. Level: Intermediate. Some basic understanding of Mahayana Buddhism is of benefit. Beginners are welcome as well!

Overview on Deity Practice and Tantra

Join us on for live online teachings with Jhampa Shaneman who will give us teachings on deity yoga and tantric practices. WHEN: Thursdays, March 9 and 16, 7:00 – 8.30 pm CET WHERE: Online LANGUAGE: English LEVEL: Intermediate. Some basic understanding of Mahayana Buddhism is of benefit. Beginners are welcome as well! REGISTER: HERE Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85613143062?pwd=VXJNNytmbGxoTVVRbytkNStSZDJiQT09 Meeting ID: 856 1314 3062 Passcode: 977378 The practice of Guru Yoga is based on Vajrayana practices unique to the Tibetan Buddhism. For those who have a sound foundation of Mahayana Buddhism, the practice of Vajrayana is said to be the fastest and most powerful path to Buddhahood. Guru Yoga is a deep and adventurous journey of unraveling the samsaric mind and uncovering one’s own innermost truth - the nature of mind. It is revered as one of the most powerful and direct methods of opening one’s mind to the blessing of the buddhas, the qualities of the enlightened beings and the wisdom mind of our masters. The practice is nurtured by the art of relating to the external, human teacher and his or her teaching with intelligence and a pure and open heart. In this way the teacher serves as the mirror in which we see both our potential and the obstacles we need to overcome. About the Teacher One of the first western Buddhist monks in the Tibetan tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, Jhampa met Ven. Lama Yeshe and became one of his first male sangha members in 1971. From that time, Jhampa studied mainly in Dharmsala, India, learning the Tibetan language. He studied under His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (His Holiness's senior tutor) and the Ven. Geshe Rabten and Geshe Dhargaye. Over the next 10 years in India, he was introduced to many tenets of Buddhism, interspersing...

Continue Reading

The Seven Limbs – How to Accumulate merit and purify negativities

Lhagsam Tibetan Meditation Gablerstrasse 51, Zurich, Switzerland

Join us for explanations and practice on the 7 limbs, the seven-line prayer that is a fundamental practice of Tibetan Buddhism. WHEN: Saturday, March 18, 10:00 am – 5.00 pm CET WHERE: Onsite only, Gablerstrasse 51 LANGUAGE: English LEVEL: Intermediate. Some basic understanding of Mahayana Buddhism is of benefit. Beginners are welcome as well! REGISTER: HERE The seven limbs (yan lag bdun pa; saptāṅga) are a set of practices that is paramount importance in many Tibetan Buddhist practice texts. These limbs offer ways to purify negativities and accumulate merit and are therefore an important aspect of the method side of the Buddhist path. We often tend to overlook and rush through them but potentially miss out on valuable aspects of the practice. Taken by themselves, the limbs make a complete and powerful practice, and practicing the seven lines of the prayer as part of other practices imbue these practices with profound meaning. During this day we will take time to become more familiar with the seven limbs, explore the various steps of the prayer and practice them together. Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech, and mind; I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined; I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time And rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. Please, remain until the end of cyclic existence And turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. I dedicate my own merits and those of all others to the great enlightenment. Without all seven limbs, there is no way for your practice to carry you to enlightenment. – Lama Zopa Rinpoche About the Teacher Christian Steinert has been a Dharma-Practitioner since 2002 and completed a 5-year study of the “Systematisches Studium des Buddhismus” (systematic study of Buddhism) at Tibetan Center Jangchub...

Continue Reading

Lhagsam General Assembly Meeting

ONSITE & ONLINE Lhagsam Tibetan Meditation Gablerstrasse 51, Zurich, 8002, Switzerland

You are cordially invited for the Lhagsam General Assembly meeting onsite at Lhagsam and online. WHEN: Sunday, March 19, 5:00 – 8:00 pm CET WHERE: Onsite at Lhagsam and Online LANGUAGE: English LEVEL: All are welcome! I know that we all have a lot going on these days, but we hope that some of you may be able to find the time to help us to shape the future of Lhagsam :) Here is the Zoom link for the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83498690687 Meeting-ID: 834 9869 0687 If you live in Zurich or near Zurich, you are welcome to join us onsite. The main topics we will discuss are: Opening of the meeting, Minutes 2022 Yearly Financial Report 2022 and Budget 2023 Personnel announcements: Lhagsam volunteers + open volunteer positions Board elections Decision regarding yearly membership fees Spiritual program 2023 and beyond GV closing We are looking forward to seeing you soon and we thank you for all the kindness and support you continue to offer to Lhagsam and to all sentient beings. PRACTICAL INFORMATION Language: English. All are welcome!

Event Series The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths

The Foundation of Buddha’s teachings. Join us on two Thursdays when Venerable Robina Courtin grants us live teachings on Zoom, explaining the Four Noble Truths. WHEN: Thursdays, March 2 and 23, 7:00 – 8.30 pm CET WHERE: Online only LEVEL: For beginners REGISTRATION: Please REGISTER HERE Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81839377063?pwd=b1ZSMlQ4MVJWYnp3L1drMUF2bVROQT09 Meeting ID: 818 3937 7063 Passcode: 609932 The first discourse given by the Buddha after attaining Enlightenment was the teaching on the Four Noble Truths. As well as establishing the fundamental Buddhist analysis of the human condition, this teaching provides the framework for all of the Buddha’s subsequent discourses delivered throughout his 40-year-long career. The Four Noble Truths have therefore provided the philosophical bedrock for successive generations of Buddhist masters across all traditions; understanding them is essential for anyone who is interested in pursuing the Buddhist path. To understand the whole purpose of Buddha’s teachings, we can learn and internalize the Four Noble Truths.  The Buddha challenges us to consider that suffering can indeed end.  The implications are huge. (Ven. Robina Courtin) About the Teacher Ven. Robina Courtin, Australian-born, has a powerhouse personality and has been a Buddhist nun for nearly 40 years. Well known for her work with people in prisons, Ven. Robina’s life and work is the subject of the award-winning documentary ‘Chasing Buddha‘. She teaches full time around the world at the centers of her teachers’ organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Read more PRACTICAL INFORMATION Cost: You would make us very happy by supporting us with a donation. Suggested donation is 0 – 40 CHF. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. You can donate online (via Paypal, Twint or E-Banking). Language: English Level: Beginners and everyone else! Registration: Please REGISTER HERE

Book Club

Join us reading and discussing! WHEN: Friday, May 26, 7.00 - 9.00 pm CET WHERE: Online LEVEL: The book club is open to anyone who is interested to meet and discuss the books we read Please note that registration is required. Register here Join our relaxed and easy-going book club! You find more information here. About the book in May: Book Title: My Journey To Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City Author: Alexandra David-Neel An exemplary travelogue of danger and achievement by the Frenchwoman Madame Alexandra David-Neel of her 1923 expedition to Tibet. In order to penetrate Tibet and reach Lhasa, she used her fluency of Tibetan dialects and culture, disguised herself as a beggar with yak hair extensions and inked skin and tackled some of the roughest terrain and climate in the World. With the help of her young companion, Yongden, she willingly suffered the primitive travel conditions, frequent outbreaks of disease, the ever–present danger of border control and the military to reach her goal. The determination and sheer physical fortitude it took for this woman, delicately reared in Paris and Brussels, is inspiration for men and women alike. David–Neel is famous for being the first Western woman to have been received by any Dalai Lama and as a passionate scholar and explorer of Asia, hers is one of the most remarkable of all travellers tales. PRACTICAL INFORMATION Cost: free Language: English Level: open for everyone Registration: Register here