We are on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
New Year’s Eve Celebration
We will enjoy a New Year’s Eve meditation and celebration on Thursday Dec 31st, beginning at 10:30pm. Led by Tempa Lama we will do a meditation and prayer for happiness, prosperity and longevity for ourselves and all beings in this new year. Tempa Lama will also guide us in a prayer flag ceremony to clear obstacles of the past year and this coming year. This is followed by a reception with beverages.
If you would like to attend, please send us an Email
Upcoming Retreat in Philadelphia: The Practice of the Ten Perfections with Tempa Dukte Lama
Philadelphia Shambhala Center
Sat Dec 12, 9am-5pm, Sun Dec 13, 9am-4pm
The practice of the enlightened qualities referred to as the Perfections or Paramitas is at the heart of the path of compassionate beings. The basis of this path is the recognition of the interdependent nature of all beings. The practice of the Perfections helps us to actualize this recognition so that all our actions are truly beneficial for ourselves and others. Through relying on the practice of the Perfections, the virtuous qualities of the mind of awakening arise in us and become the skillful means for clearing obscurations.
More details and registration…
Upcoming Retreat: The Practice of the Ten Perfections with Tempa Dukte Lama
Pittsburgh, PA, Nov 21-22
The practice of the enlightened qualities referred to as the Perfections or Paramitas is at the heart of the path of compassionate beings. The basis of this path is the recognition of the interdependent nature of all beings. The practice of the Perfections helps us to actualize this recognition so that all our actions are truly beneficial for ourselves and others. Through relying on the practice of the Perfections, the virtuous qualities of the mind of awakening arise in us and become the skillful means for clearing obscurations.
More details and registration…Upcoming Retreat: The Nature of our Mind and our Buddha Nature with Tempa Dukte Lama
Within the Bon tradition, the inherent pure nature that is our deepest potential is approached through the three paths: The paths of renunciation (Sutra), the path of transformation (Tantra) and the path of self-liberation (Dzogchen). In this Retreat, we will explore how practices and teachings within these three paths can help us reconnect with the nature of the mind and our Buddha Nature.
Venue: Olmo Ling Center for Meditation and Compassionate Outreach, 1101 Greenfield Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15217
Date and Time: Sat Oct 10, 9:30am-5pm and Sun Oct 11, 10am-1pm
Beyond Mindfulness: Bon Buddhism’s Insights into Psychologically Healthy Life
With Tempa Dukte Lama
Monday evenings, Oct. 5 – Nov. 9, 7-9pm
This course will introduce participants to the psychological concepts and meditative practices of Bon Buddhism as they apply to clinical work with psychological difficulties.
12 CECs for psychologists, social workers, and therapists
Meditation Retreat
Pittsburgh, PA with Tempa Dukte Lama
Saturday Sept 26, 2009: 9:30am–5pm
Join us for a day of silent meditation. Tempa Lama will offer instructions and teachings on Calm Abiding meditation, Self-awareness and Open Presence from the 11th century Bon Ati meditation lineage of Tibet. This daylong Retreat can be an opportunity to learn meditation or an opportunity to deepen your practice in the supportive setting of a group.
Olmo Ling Center for Meditation and Compassionate Outreach Opening Celebration
Please join us for the Opening Celebration of Olmo Ling Center for Meditation and Compassionate Outreach! This event is free and open to all.
Details: Sunday, September 13, 3-6pm – Celebration and Refreshments
Venue: 1101 Greenfield Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 (Corner of Greenfield Ave and Loretta)
See also the Press Release of Sept 2, 2009
Upcoming Retreat: Bon Dzogchen Teaching on the Sevenfold Clear Light
Sat Aug. 15th: 10am-5pm, Sun, Aug. 16th: 10am-12:30pm
Pittsburgh, PA with Geshe Tenzin Dargye and Tempa Dukte Lama
In this retreat, Geshe Tenzin Dargye Rinpoche will give authentic Tibetan Bon Dzogchen teachings on the ‘Sevenfold Cycle of Clear Light Meditation’. This meditation practice helps us connect with the nature of our mind and manifest our Buddha Nature. ‘Dzogchen’ or the Great Perfection is the highest teaching of the Tibetan Bon tradition.
Public talk: ‘The Sevenfold Cycle of Clear Light Meditation’
With Geshe Tenzin Dargye
Fri Aug 14th: 7-8:30pm
Geshe Tenzin Dargye, the abbot of Tashi Gygye Tharten Ling monastery in Dhorpatan, Nepal, will give an introduction to the ‘Sevenfold Cycle of Clear Light Meditation’. This public talk is open to all, no registration is required.
Venue: Carriage house of the Western Pennsylvania Family Center, 733 N Highland Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15206
Public talk by Menri Ponlop Rinpoche: Dzogchen – Ripening the Mind
Fri May 29th, 7-8:30 pm – All are welcome
Venue: Carriage house of the Western Pennsylvania Family Center, 733 N Highland Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15206
Suggested donation: $12
Menri Ponlop Rinpoche is the head teacher of Menri Monastery, the main monastery of the Tibetan Bon tradition. He traces his ancestry back to Yangton Sherab Gyaltsen, a famous Dzogchen and tantric master of the eleventh century.
Retreat on the Bon Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyud Ngondro, the Preliminary Practices
with Menri Ponlop Thinley Nyima Rinpoche, Pittsburgh, PA
Friday May 29th: 7-9pmSaturday May 30th: 9:30am-5pm with lunch break
Sunday May 31st: 9:30am-4pm with lunch break
We are very honored that Ponlop Thrinley Nyima Rinpoche, the head teacher at Menri Monastery, India will visit us this year. Rinpoche will give teachings and oral transmission on the preliminary practices or “Ngondro” that open the door to the Bon Dzogchen (Great Perfection) teachings. These ancient practices are very beneficial for our life. They purify our karmic tendencies and negativities, cleansing our body, speech and mind. The preliminary practices help us to prepare our heart and mind to recognize our true nature. At the same time, these practices are a complete path of liberation in themselves.
Upcoming celebration: Vesak – Buddha Shakyamuni’s birthday and enlightenment
On Sunday 17th from 3-5pm we will celebrate Vesak, Buddha Shakyamuni’s birthday and enlightenment together with different Pittsburgh-based Buddhist groups. We will share beautiful chants from the different traditions, a meditation for world peace and many other activities. Olmoling will chant an Aspirational prayer for peace and prosperity (click here for the text and recording).
Venue: First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, 605 Morewood Ave (corner of Morewood and Ellsworth)
Time: Sunday May 17th, 3-5pm.
- Introduction to the day and of the life of Shakyamuni Buddha
- Chanting praises for the Buddha from different Buddhist groups in different languages
- Meditation instruction and contemplation for world peace
- Performance by the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center in Natrona Heights
- Dedication of merit and refreshments
At 6:30 everyone is invited to reconvene at Point Park to pour the blessed water into the three rivers wishing peace for the whole world.
Upcoming Retreat: Compassion and Self-compassion
with Tempa Lama in Hollywood, Maryland
Friday, May 1, 7-8:30 pm
Saturday, May 2, 9:30am-5pm with a lunch break
Compassion is the essence of the Bon and Buddhist teachings. The practice of compassionate beings is to realize selflessness and to help others attain this realization. Becoming a compassionate being means becoming a Buddha. The compassion of a Buddha includes all beings without a distinction between ourselves and others. In this contemplative Bon Buddhist workshop, we will use teachings, dialogue and meditation to explore the practice of compassion and self-compassion in our lives.
Special upcoming retreat: Teachings on Dream Yoga from the Bon Mother Tantra
With Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche
Sat. March 28th: 9:30am-5pm Sun, March 29th: 10am-4pm
We are honored to be able to host Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche this year. Chongtul Rinpoche is a renowned reincarnated lama in the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition. Rinpoche has studied at the Bon Dialectic school of Menri Monastery from the age of 7 and has received the complete transmission and teachings of Bon Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen from the two most senior lamas of the Bon tradition. He is the founder of Bon Shen Ling: Tibetan Bon Education Fund.
In this retreat, Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche will present the fundamentals of Dream Yoga. For thousands of years, Tibetan Bon practitioners have been practicing lucid dreaming and crafting techniques to develop deep awareness during dreamtime. Dream Yoga heightens our awareness that obstacles that appear in our waking life are akin to dream images. In this way, dreaming is used as a spiritual practice to help us recognize our awakened nature of wisdom, clarity and compassion.
Recall the relief upon awakening from a nightmare. If you were being chased in the dream, you wake up liberated from a scenario dismissed as unreal. Our mind distinguishes between waking and dream states, the real and the imagined. As we recognize dream imagery to be illusions, we apply this awareness to our waking obstacles to remember that fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. These essential Bon techniques guide you to confront the source of your perceptions to bring balance to your life.
Contemplative Bon Healing Retreat Part I
With Tempa Dukte Lama, Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday. Jan. 24th, 9:30am-5pmSunday, Jan. 25th, 10am-12:30pm
Venue: Western Pennsylvania Family Center, 733 N Highland Ave, Pittsburgh PA
Our own natural inner capacity to heal can be accessed through contemplative healing practices, as are found in many of the world’s religions. In this workshop, we will explore healing through teachings, contemplative practice and exercise. We will learn the Tibetan Bon Buddhist healing practice of Sidpa Gyalmo. This practice is based in the open heart of compassion and equanimity. Through this practice we recognize and invoke the primordial healing wisdom that is inherent in all of us and that can help us let go of stress and other factors that can cause physical and emotional pain or illness. The practice strengthens the flow of energy in our body and allows us to bring healing and renewal to our mind, emotions and body.
This retreat is for everybody – for those with life-threatening illnesses, for caregivers, and for all who want to deepen their relationship to healing and to physical and emotional wellbeing and to help others in their healing process.
A Day of Silent Meditation with Tempa Dukte Lama
Saturday January 3rd 2009 9:30am-5pm with lunch break
It is good to begin the year with spiritual practice. We want to spend a day in meditation together so that we can draw strength and calmness from our practice and bring it into all experiences of our life during this new year. This is an opportunity to deepen our practice with the support of a group of practitioners. Tempa Lama will give meditation instructions at the beginning.