Plans are in the making for the 2020 Summer Institute, where meditation and study will be joined again! Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information.
Session 1: 10–18 July 2020
Session 2: 20–28 July 2020
Session 3: 30 July –8 August 2020
We are pleased to announce the opening of our new Summer Institute website. Details about the new location at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and information about courses and prerequisites for the new unified program, Meditation and Study in Union, can be found on the new website. Registration for review and prerequisite classes is now open. Summer Program registration will open in early spring.
Curious about the Summer Institute? Come check out our programs for one day!
On Saturday, July 14th, 2018 we are offering an Open House at the Summer Institute on the Western Washington University campus in Bellingham, WA. On this day you are welcome to attend any of the classes. You can mix and match classes in Buddhist Studies, Meditation, Thangka Painting, Mudra Space Awareness and Tibetan, as well as attend teachings by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche!
Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, about 90 minutes north of Seattle. For directions to Fairhaven College, home of Nitartha Summer Institute 2018, click here.
Saturday, July 14, 2018 anytime after 8:00 am.
For planning purposes, we kindly ask that you let us know if you are coming by filling out a short form. Register Now!
Check the summer institute website for a detailed schedule. Email us at info@nitarthainstitute.org or call 720-310-0422 for further information.
We are delighted that Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche will teach two classes at the Summer Institute 2018!
The classes will be held during Module 1 (July 6-14) and Module 2 (July 16-24) and will be offered on alternating days.
Distinguishing the Views and Philosophies: A Lamp of Essential Points
This course is a systematic overview of Mipham´s teachings on the Middle Way by the influential scholar of the twentieth century Bötrül (1898-1959) of the Nyingma tradition. Bötrül’s root text, Distinguishing the Views and Philosophies, and his auto-commentary, Ornament of Mañjughoa´s Viewpoint, provide a meaning commentary on Mipham’s Beacon of Certainty.
Bötrül sets forth an understanding of “emptiness” and the Middle Way School that is unique to his Nyingma school, within a rich constellation of diverse perspectives, contrasting Nyingma views point by point with positions held by other Tibetan Buddhist schools.
Bötrül was an ordained monk and incarnate lama who taught at several monastic colleges in eastern and central Tibet. Many of his students were among the most influential leaders of the Nyingma school.
Anyone attending Shedra or Gomdra classes at the Summer Institute is welcome to come to this class.
Luminous Essence: The Tantra of the Secret Essence
The Tantra of the Secret Essence (Skt: Guhyagarbha Tantra; Tib: Gsang ba´i snying po) is the main tantra of the Mahāyoga class of tantras and is the main text on tantric view studied in the Nyingma tradition.
In this course, this tantra will be studied based on Mipham Rinpoche´s Luminous Essence (`Od gsal snying po), which is his celebrated commentary on Longchenpa´s commentary on the Guhyagarbha called Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions (Tib: phyogs bcu’i mun sel).
Mipham´s text presents the ground, path, and fruition of tantra, and the ten topics of the tantric path: view, conduct, maṇḍala, empowerment, samaya, activity, accomplishment, samādhi, offering pūja, and mantra with mudrā.
This course is only open to students with certain prerequisites; for details please check the Summer Institute website.
Join us for an amazing summer!
The Summer Institute 2018 will be held from July 6 – August 2, 2018 in Bellingham, Washington! Join us for another summer of incredible teachings.
The two primary tracks at the Summer Institute are complementary and feed back into each other. The Shedra track emphasizes learning the crucial distinctions about mind and processes of consciousness – like a decoder key to the pith instructions for training on the path. The Gomdra track emphasizes meditative practice as the method to discover, experience, and integrate new possibilities for being, sanity, and wisdom. As learning and insight develop in the Shedra, this enhances meditative experience. As meditative experience deepens, more advanced studies become relevant and meaningful.
Teachers at the Summer Institute include:
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, leading master of the Kagyü & Nyingma lineages and founder of Nitartha Institute and Nalandabodhi.
Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, Professor of Buddhist Studies at Naropa University and head teacher at Nalandabodhi.
Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl, translator and teacher at Nalandabodhi
… and many more eastern and western senior teachers & scholars!
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The Nitartha Summer Institute in Bellingham, Washington July 7–August 5, 2017 was an incredible experience. Thank you for your participation and support. We hope to see you again next year!
Emotions bring color and meaning to our lives, but they can also put us on an exhausting rollercoaster ride that takes us to blissful peak states, the depths of delusion and despair, and everything in between. Only by learning to relate to our emotions skillfully can we benefit from their richness and gain wisdom, instead of letting them control us. When we bring awareness to our emotions, something truly amazing happens – they lose their power to make us miserable.
When you begin to open your heart to the suffering of the world, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. How do we work with the intense emotions that arise, so we can find ways to act with compassion in our communities?
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche will teach on the 3-step Emotional Rescue Plan for working with disturbing emotions, from his new book Emotional Rescue: How to Work with Your Emotions to Transform Hurt and Confusion into Wisdom that Empowers You.
6:00 pm | Registration Opens*
7:00-9:00 pm | Opening Meditation with Mitra Dean Tyler Dewar, Keynote talk by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
9:00 pm onward | Book Signing & Reception**
*Seats are not assigned. Plan your arrival accordingly to register and find a seat by 7:00pm. We recommend arriving at 6:30pm.
**A limited number of Emotional Rescue books will be available onsite for purchase.
Registration for this event is now closed (as of 2:00pm July 22, 2016).
University of British Columbia
Totem Ballroom
2525 West Mall
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1W9
This year’s complete summer program will run for four weeks from Friday, July 15th through Saturday, August 13th, 2016. We anticipate being able to offer courses from three of our academic departments:
In addition, we will again offer a Mahamudra Practice Intensive (Gomdra) program for qualified students, similar to what we have offered at the past two Summer Institutes in 2014 and 2015.
To optimize the teaching and learning environment as much as possible, the four different departments/programs will run in tandem on two parallel schedules: one on a two 2-week session schedule, and the other on a three 9-day module schedule. The program dates arranged by department and session/module are as follows:
Schedule for the Department of Buddhist Studies (BUD), and Department of Languages (LAN) — two 2-week sessions:
Session I: Friday, July 15 to Thursday, July 28
Travel day: Friday July 29
Session II: Saturday, July 30 to Friday, Aug 12
Travel day: Saturday August 13
Schedule for the Mahamudra Practice Intensive (Gomdra) and Department of Healing (HEA) — three 9-day modules:
Module 1: Friday, July 15 to Saturday, July 23
Travel day: Sunday, July 24
Module 2: Monday, July 25 to Tuesday, August 2
Travel day: Wednesday, August 3
Module 3: Thursday, August 4 to Friday, August 12
Travel day: Saturday, August 13
It is planned that Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche will be present for Modules 1 and 2 and will continue his teachings on the topic of Mahamudra Vipashyana from the Ninth Karmapa’s Ocean of Definitive Meaning. Please note: Rinpoche’s talks will not be open to the public and only students who meet the Mahamudra study and practice requirements will be permitted to attend Rinpoche’s talks.
NEW VENUE! To better accommodate the growing needs of students and faculty, and also due to a variety of other considerations, Nitartha Summer Institute 2016 will be hosted at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada!
UBC Location: 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Additional program details, such as registration, tuition rates, housing costs, etc., are forthcoming. For now, please save the dates and further details will be posted on our website and announced shortly.
In the interim, should you have any burning questions that just can’t wait, please correspond with our 2016 Summer Program Co-Coordinators, Christine Hwang and Crista Lawson at: summerprogram@nitarthainstitute.org.