Upcoming Tuesday Night Dharma Talks

Tempa Lama has invited several wonderful teachers and guest speakers to share their wisdom and compassion with us while he travels this fall.

September 7th:		Ven. Bhante Pemaratana
September 14th:		Dr. Robert Marin: “Returning to the well: Hiroshima. Reflections on compassion
		in the face of calamity disaster, trauma, and personal tragedy.”
September 21:		Dr. Stanley Perelman: “The Bon Master Nyamed Sherab Gyaltsen”
September 28th:		Kundrol Rinpoche
October 5th:		Kundrol Rinpoche
October 12th:		Longevity Meditation of Drenpa Namkha
October 19th:		Dr. Tova Tarr: “Awakening through Love and Compassion”
October 26th:		Ven. Bhante Pemaratana
November 2nd:		Eileen Nadzam, MA: “The Three Heart Mantras of Bon”
November 9th:		Rev. Kyoki Roberts: “The Koan of Bodhidharma’s Emptiness”

Please scroll down for details on Rev. Kyoki’s Dharma talk.

More about the speakers

Kundrol Namkha Thinley Wangyal Rinpoche is a renowned healer and psychic. He is the seventh reincarnation of the great Kundrol Jatson Nyingpo of Tibet. His warmth and compassion, his sense of humor and the unique qualities of his teachings have touched the lives of many beings.

Rinpoche is a nonsectarian and has received teachings and empowerments with highly venerated Bon and Buddhist masters such as H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, H.H. Menling Tri Rinpoche, H.E. Dodrup Rinpoche and many others. He has visited Olmo Ling four times over the last 3 years and has a close, loving connection with our community.

 

Venerable Bhante Pemaratana is the current resident teacher and acting abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1986 and received higher ordination in 1997. His monastic training was under the tutelage of the most Ven. Attangane Sasanaratana Maha Thero at Sripathi Pirivena, Diyakalamulla, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka. He holds a bachelor’s degree with first class honors in Buddhist Studies from the University of Peradeniya and a master’s degree in philosophy from the National University of Singapore.

He has lectured at the University of Peradeniya and the Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore. He conducts regular lectures and workshops in Buddhist teachings and meditation. The Transcultural Society for Clinical Meditation in Japan gave him the 2008 Haruki Award for his research paper on Meditation and Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

 

Reverend Kyoki Roberts is the head priest of Deep Spring Temple in Sewickly, Pennsylvania (Zen Center of Pittsburgh). She is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and is a founding member of the Order of the Prairie Wind (OPW). She is the senior ordained student of Rev. Nonin Chowaney, Head Priest of Heartland Temple and OPW. Rev. Kyoki has trained at Hokyo-ji Monastery in Minnesota, San Francisco Zen Center and Green Gulch Farm in California, and Zuio-ji and Shogo-ji monasteries in Japan. Kyoki received Dharma Transmission (permission to teach independently) from Rev. Nonin Chowaney, OPW in June 2001. She also serves on the Board of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association.

About Rev. Kyoki’s Dharma talk Rev. Kyoki will offer our community insights from a Buddhist practice that is unique to Zen: She will talk about the Koan of Bodhidharma’s Emptiness and how it may be used as a practice toward liberation. A Koan is a profound question or phrase which cannot be grasped by rational thinking, consequently leading us to transcend the conceptual mind and access our deeper knowing. This Koan is from the 2nd “Book of Serenity”, a 12th century collection of Koans going back to various earlier Zen masters. Bodhidharma was a great 5th century Indian Buddhist master. His vast compassionate intention to spread the teachings of liberation led him to travel throughout Southeast Asia and China. His teachings in China subsequently became the beginning of Zen Buddhism.

 

Dr. Bob Marin is a psychotherapist and psychiatrist, a faculty in geriatrics, neuropsychiatry, and community mental health at UPMC, and a long time practitioner in the tradition of Dzogchen. Bob is a convener of the Dzogchen Sangha of Pittsburgh, an affiliate of the Dzogchen Foundation of Lama Surya Das. Bob has a longstanding interest in psychotherapy and the tradition of psychiatry as a healing profession. At Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, he teaches a course on the role of meditation, mindfulness, and self-awareness in professional development and has featured the course in presentations at local and national meetings. He has been a physician activist for many years, focusing especially on community and clinical interventions that address the social and political roots of social violence.

 

Dr. Stan Perelman is a psychologist and Jungian Analyst with a private practice in Pittsburgh. He also consults with the Chatham University Counseling Center. He is a member of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association in New York and an affiliate member of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Institute. He has given seminars, talks and papers on a variety of subjects including personality disorders, aspects of Jungian psychology, dreams, Buddhism and the nature of spirituality. He has a long time meditation practice and has been a student of Bon Buddhism for about twelve years.

 

Dr Tova Tarr is a Psychoanalytic oriented Psychologist, in private practice in Pittsburgh. Tova studies and practices Tibetan Buddhism and Iyengar Yoga since 2000. She taught courses at Osher Life Long Learning Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and at the University of Pittsburgh on topics embracing Psychoanalysis, Spirituality and Art. Tova has served on the Steering Committee of The Pittsburgh Middle East Peace Forum and on the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Jung Society.

 

Eileen Nadzam has a Master of Fine Arts in Music from Carnegie-Mellon University, and owns and operates her own music studio. She has also taught at the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), has been Adjunct Faculty in the Music Department of CCAC as well as accompanist to the Community College Choir. She is also a member of the Pittsburgh Musicians Union and past vice president of the Pittsburgh Music Teachers Association. Eileen is a Registered Suzuki Instructor for violin and piano and has performed with many venues including the Wheeling Symphony, and the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet. She has been a long time student of Yoga, Aikido, and Chi Gong, and is dedicated to the practice of Bön Buddhism. At Olmo Ling, Eileen is the chant leader (Umze).