Trail to the Summit
a long-term study and mentorship program
Thank you to all who joined the open house on Saturday, April 25.
The first study session will be on May 10 from 12:15 to 2:00 PM PDT.
Understanding your individualized spiritual needs enables us to refine our programs to meet your learning and practice experience more holistically. This survey will take 5-7 minutes, and your responses will remain confidential. Thank you for your time and practice.
Who is This Program for?
The Trail to the Summit Study and Mentorship Program is open to practitioners at all levels on the path of Buddhadharma and Vajrayāna. It offers both an adaptable group structure and personalized mentorship — bringing authentic guidance into your practice and your daily life.
The program includes instruction in the methods of the gradual path of Vajrayāna, alongside individualized guidance to support your progress, build confidence and clarity, and cultivate insight and compassion.
In our present day, teachings seem to find us effortlessly. Scrolling past on social media, they are available at the touch of a screen. Yet traditionally, dharma is given when it is requested. This program was born from exactly such requests: from practitioners who wished to weave study and practice together through consistent, constructive teaching and mentorship. To better understand your individual needs, we asked each of you to share your experience and aspirations through a survey.
The authentic dharma is unchanging. And yet this program continues to evolve — shaped and reshaped to meet you where you are, both as individuals and as a community. We are here to meet you on the path, wherever that may be.
Structure and What Will You Learn?
· Gradual Path: What is the proper order and understanding of how the path is traversed? The rationale for each stage.
· Our spiritual heritage: Starting with the Four Noble Truths, in this class, we will explore the Nine Vehicles (yānas), schools, traditions, and lineages. The program begins with identifying our spiritual heritage from the time of the Buddha, all the way to the present day, the importance of lineage, connection with a teacher, method, and model of practice sequence.
· Renunciation: the realization of our condition in cyclic existence, a wish to transcend beyond the states of unsatisfactoriness and constant change that keep us from settling in the present and beyond it.
· Budy & Grounding: how to stabilize your body and nervous system as part of your practice; how to cope with pain, illnesses, aging; posture and individual constitution; is our body a problem or a solution? Re-thinking a wholesome relationship without meditative bodies.
· The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma: the seminal meditation for the development of renunciation, devotion, compassion, and commitment to the Dharma path. It gives us meaning, purpose for this life, a pledge not to waste this delicate moment, and a realization of the totality of the universe beyond our apparent bubble.
· Ethics and Compassion serve as our guides to accomplish this, and the vows within their scope act as containers for our mindfulness.
· Spiritual Teacher: In relating to a spiritual teacher, we will explore the different kinds of teachers, how to relate, and the importance of lineage and training.
· Mind Training: one of the primary teachings of the Buddha will be approached both in the form of contemplations and in the practice of sitting in Calm Abiding and Insight.
· Dharma and Healing: How emotions, calm abiding, and understanding Karma can reshape our experience.
· Death: cultivate a fearless attitude on the path in preparation for the most important moment of your life and develop the skills to open your heart to the experience of others.
· Retreat: the program will conclude with practical ways to approach and create conducive conditions for a retreat, the process of how to enact and complete it, and finally, how to make any available time and space an opportunity for a retreated mind to thrive.
The program will include regular monthly online teachings, personal mentorship, and dynamic individual guidance.
Program Objectives:
The program objectives are to provide a foundational framework on the path of buddhadharma from where the gradual path of Vajrayāna can be crossed. It endeavors to integrate instructions and receptivity to your needs through mentorship and dynamic individual guidance, inspiring one to live compassionately while taking wisdom as one’s best companion.
While the program is rooted in the authentic wisdom tradition of Vajrayāna, it will continue to be shaped around what works for you, your life, your circumstances, and your capacity so that progress on the path remains genuinely within reach.
Please consider the level of commitment you take as you embark on the Trail to the Summit Study and Mentorship Program. Consistent attendance, timely communication, and engagement with assignments are the ground on which this program is built.
Lhamen is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making authentic dharma, healing, and knowledge accessible. We operate with limited resources and a small team of staff and volunteers
Program sliding scale fees cover the cost of resources and associated expenses. By contributing, participants directly support the continuity and quality of our programming, ensuring we can continue to serve the community now and into the future. The dharma is always a gift to yourself and others.