Releasing into Presence with Lopön Chandra - Meditation & Dharma talk on Lojong slogan 28
Channel: The Alembic
Date: 2024-04-03

Lopon Chandra is back from a month healing retreat (Panchakarma) in India! In this class we chanted, practiced pranayama, and meditated. Then after a brief stretch break, we came back for Q&A related to the meditation and then touched on slogan #28, "Abandon all hope of fruition". We explored how this aphorism is related to normal every day life and our spiritual practice. 

Course description: 
Come experience the benefits meditation, mantra, and movement have to offer our body, mind, and soul. Classes will be relaxing, rejuvenating, and fun, enhanced by community and collective practice. Weaving together mystical stories, meditations, mantra, movement and singing chants, Chandra offers practices that facilitate releasing into presence with ease and comfort. All are welcome.

The ongoing theme for this class is the classic Buddhist teachings on Mind Training (Lojong). At the heart of all practices of Tibetan Buddhism, Mind Training puts special emphasis on transforming all hardships and happiness into the path of awakening, meaning that all of life’s joys and sorrows can be fuel for the ultimate journey home. Mind Training consists of inspiring pithy slogans that help us dive deeply and intimately into our own capacity to develop wisdom and compassion in our lives. Chandra will share the classical root text called The Seven Points of Mind Training by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (1102-1176) and various commentaries.

Meditation: Experience a richness of techniques for developing shamatha, calm abiding, and vipashyana, insight. These will include mindfulness of breathing, an especially effective approach to soothing the body and calming the discursive mind, and more advanced techniques called “settling the mind in its natural state” and “awareness of awareness.” Tonglen (sending & receiving) guided meditation will also be offered.

Mantra: Explore mantra recitation and chanting, both with and without musical accompaniment. Chandra will share a variety of mantras and melodies from the Buddhist and Hindu tradition, including melodies from her 21 Taras Collective project.

Movement: Practice gentle and accessible yoga and/or meditative movement to bring more comfort and ease to your meditation and life. We suggest you come wearing comfortable clothes. While we don't always have time for movement, Chandra always tries to include it.

Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton is a teacher, author, and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts. She has taught Buddhism and Hatha Yoga since 2001 and co-translated Sublime Dharma: A Compilation of Two Texts on the Great Perfection, published in 2012. 

While her training is rooted in Tibetan Buddhism (Mahayana and Vajrayana) and the Great Perfection (Ati Yoga; Dzogchen), her primary interest is making these traditional teachings relevant and accessible for our modern experience.

She is a Vajra teacher, Dorje Lopön, at Tara Mandala Retreat Center, founded by Lama Tsultrim Allione, where she serves on the Upaya Council, Prajna Council, and the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Council, which address the underrepresentation of people from different cultural, racial, sexual orientation, and social backgrounds in the Dharma. She is the author of Embodying Tara: Twenty-One Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom (Shambhala Publications, 2023). To learn more about her teaching schedule, writings, and music, visit www.chandraeaston.com.