Month: December 2021

Venerable Thubten Chodron will lead a series of teachings delving deeper into the substance of spiritual practice. 

During this series Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps you’ll hear explanations of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, why they are reliable guides on the path, and how to relate to them. The series will describe the three essential trainings common to all Buddhist traditions: the higher trainings in ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom. These trainings show us how to live a life free of harm to self or others and give us detailed instructions on how to develop single-pointed concentration as well as the higher states of concentration available to an earnest practitioner. Venerable Chodron will then discuss teachings on the noble eightfold path and the four establishments of mindfulness for developing greater awareness and understanding of our body, feelings, mind, and other phenomena. Together, these topics form the core of Buddhist practice.

Margaret McIntyre has been a student of Andy Weber and Paul Smith since 2016 and is passionate about Dharma Art and encouraging participation in this most important traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice.  She has completed several traditional thangkas and facilitated a drawing class of Shakyamuni Buddha.

This class will explore various colouring techniques for participants to try out and consider to add colour to an existing Tibetan Dharma art image that they have drawn or to a pre prepared image.

In the most part the class will be using colouring pencils as a bridge towards the use of gouache and traditional Thangka painting techniques.

Components of the class will involve basic colour theory, outlining, blending and shading using pencil, ink and gouache paint.

Video resources will be used as appropriate for technique demonstrations according to the needs of the group.

Participants who wish to attend the class to work on their pre existing drawings or paintings are welcome to join and continue on their projects.

The class content will be varied and flexible according to the needs of the participants and the skill of the teacher.

If potential attendees who have not attended the recent drawing dharma art class and would like to join this class, are encouraged to contact us via spc@vajrayana.com.au to discuss their needs or to ask questions.

Download materials list here

Margaret McIntyre has been a student of Andy Weber (and his student Paul Smith) since 2016.

During COVID 19 Andy Weber taught a number of courses on line and these recordings are available for purchase on his website.

Andy has given his permission and blessings for Margaret to facilitate a drawing course using his videos of the Shakyamuni Buddha course. The videos go for approximately 9 hours in total and provide close up and detailed instructions on the drawing process as well as the meaning of the elements within the image. 

Andy will provide support to Margaret if there are questions that cannot to be answered from the videos and Margaret and other students experiences.

The drawing of Shakyamuni Buddha is usually the beginning of every Dharma art course before other images are drawn, this therefore is a great opportunity for those new to thangka art as a practice to join at the beginning.

Participants do not require previous art or drawing skills, just motivation to be open to the experience and to be of benefit to yourself and others.

It is also a wonderful opportunity for those who have attended Andy’s face to face courses to actually see him drawing close up and to refresh and fine tune your skills.

We will look at segments of the videos and then do the drawing related to the video so that we can gradually complete a finished drawing by the end of the course.

Outline of Program: (This may vary depending on participants progress)

Week 1 – Introduction and drawing the face grid and face

Week 2 – Drawing the body and lotus grids, drawing the body.

Week 3 – Drawing the lotus

Week 4 – Drawing the head and body auras, drawing the robes

Week 5 – Drawing the throne, snow lions

Week 6 – Drawing Face, aura lines, sun and moon.

Week 7 and 8 – Review any parts of videos on request and completion of drawings.

Prerequisite for attendance: Viewing of Andy Webers talk of Shakyamuni Buddha on his website, link below.

Talks From New York – Andy Weber Studios

Download the Art Materials List

Mindfulness is a natural quality of our mind that, when developed, can facilitate a change in the way our body and mind function. This workshop will introduce the four establishments of mindfulness on the body, feelings, mind and Dharma, and investigate the positive effects of mindfulness, like releasing our reactivities to stress in our body and mind, increasing the sense of bliss and happiness, and becoming more aware of our mental habits and their impacts on us.

All are welcome; there is no prerequisite.

The workshop will feature brief explanations, guided meditations, and time for Q&A.

Unfortunately, we have decided to cancel the Nyung Nay Retreat.

It was a difficult decision however after careful consideration we believe it’s in the best interest of the attendees, organisers, and all those involved. 

What is Nyung Nay?

Nyung-nay (or “fasting retreat” in English) is a Vajrayana practice from the kriya (“action”) class of tantra. It is a powerful practice to develop compassion and bodhichitta – the mind that strives for enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. It is also a quick and effective method to purify negativities and collect merit.

In each session, we practice the sadhana (“method of accomplishment”) of Chenrezig, the Buddha symbolising compassion. The sadhana involves meditating on Bodhichitta (the aspiration to attain enlightenment in order to help all beings), visualizing Chenrezig, reciting prayers and mantras, and performing prostrations. Each session lasts approximately 3 hours.

This is a non-residential retreat available to attend in-person or online via Zoom stream.

You can view the retreat schedule here

What to expect during a Nyung Nay retreat?

During the Nyung Nay retreat, we practice the sadhana (“method of accomplishment”) of Chenrezig, the Buddha symbolizing compassion. The sadhana involves meditating on bodhicitta (the aspiration to attain enlightenment in order to help all beings), visualizing Chenrezig, reciting prayers and mantras, and performing prostrations.

One Nyung Nay retreat consists of 2 full days and 1 morning of retreat, for a total of 7 practice sessions spread over this time. Each session lasts approximately 3 hours.

Structure of the retreat

On the first full day of the Nyung Nay, we take the 8 Mahayana Precepts: avoidance of killing, stealing, sexual activity, telling lies, taking intoxicants, eating more than one meal, singing / dancing / playing music, wearing jewelry, and using high seats or beds. Three sessions of the sadhana are practiced on the first day.  Each session is approximately 3 hours.

On the second day of the Nyung Nay, we take the 8 Mahayana Precepts as above, with the additional vows of not eating, drinking or speaking until after sunrise the next day. Three sessions of the sadhana are practiced on this day. Although we vow to keep silence, we continue to recite the prayers and mantras of the sadhana. If communication between participants is necessary, it must be done through writing notes.

Challenge / Opportunity

The second day is the most difficult part of the retreat. We experience hunger, thirst, tiredness and pain from doing prostrations. Some people feel ill from the fasting. However, if we understand the purpose of the practice, we will not mind the discomfort.

By experiencing hardships in our Dharma practice, we are able to purify a great deal of our negative karma accumulated over countless previous lives. We can also build up positive habits and states of mind to counteract the negative ones.

The Buddha advised the “middle way” — not too soft, not too tough. During Nyung Nays we do experience discomfort, but it is bearable and not too tough. By experiencing this discomfort, we have a better understanding of the suffering experienced by animals, hungry ghosts, and some humans, and thus develop greater compassion for sentient beings, and greater renunciation of samsara — How Amazing!

If you have any health issues please consult your doctor before commencing the retreat.

We hope to see you online or in-person at the centre for this incredible opportunity to purify and generate merit!

Benefits of the practice

The spiritual impact of engaging in Nyung-nay practice is extraordinary, as explained in these references:

• Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice on the nyung-nay practice, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archives
• Nyung-nay retreat and its benefits, from the FPMT’s Chokyi Gyaltsen Center, Malaysia.

Requirements

• Preferably you would be a Buddhist, having formally taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. 
• It would be good if have taken the Great Thousand-armed Chenrezig Initiation, which will require taking the Bodhisattva Vows; if you haven’t you should at least have received a complete initiation (wang) from one of the three higher classes of tantra. If you do not have initiation or unsure about whether you are suitable to do a Nyung Nay please contact spc@vajrayana.com.au to discuss your suitability for this retreat.

Rules of Discipline 

Since Vajrayana is a semi-monastic meditation centre , we ask all of our retreatants and visitors to observe the following rules of discipline in order to maintain an atmosphere conducive to inner reflection and meditation:

• Respect all life: do not intentionally kill any living being, even small insects.
• Respect others’ property: do not steal or take anything not freely given.
• Be honest and straightforward: do not lie or intentionally deceive others. This is easy when observing silence!
• Be celibate: no sexual activity. This also includes no holding hands, hugging, massages, and other physical displays of affection.
• Be alert and mindful: avoid intoxicants such as alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes (we encourage you to stop smoking while here, but if this is impossible, one can smoke at a designated place outside the centre boundary).
• Be considerate of others’ silence: respect others that choose to keep silent during the retreat, especially in the Gompa. No singing or playing music and in general, maintain a quiet demeanor while on the property.
• Be considerate of the monks and nuns: dress respectfully (please no shorts above the knee, tank-top shirts or tight and revealing clothing).

Basic Retreat Discipline

In order to keep the atmosphere conducive to inner reflection and spiritual pursuit and to minimise distractions during the course, students on our residential courses and retreats are asked to abide by our basic code of discipline listed below.

• Please settle all outside communication before the course begins. Telling friends and family that you will be out of contact for the duration of the course and sticking by that decision significantly reduces distraction from the investigation into the workings of your own mind!
• Participants should attend all sessions of the course and come to sessions on time.
• Please leave all communication/entertainment devices (laptop / mobile phones /cameras / MP3/CD players) etc at home or switch off and leave in your bag.
• Please be gentle in your behaviour and sensitive to fellow group members.

Can’t make it yet would like to generate merit by supporting the retreatants?
Lama Zopa Rinpoche says that sponsoring retreats generates the same merit as if you had done the retreat yourself.  

• If you would like to help sponsor the cost of the retreat, please make a donation using the donation box below