Trail to the Summit

Beginning April 2026 Ongoing

The program you’ve been asking for!

We are happy to introduce our new study and mentorship Program with Drubpon Pema Rigdzin.

 Who is it this program for?

This program is designed for individuals who wish to begin building or strengthen their foundation on the Gradual Path of Vajrayāna. It aims to bring framework, guidance and clarity to meet individuals exactly where they are while nurturing a community of practitioners. 

Structure:

This program was inspired by the popular wish of practitioners to follow the path of Vajrayana but are unable to commit to long retreats.  This program makes it possible to integrate study, practice while receiving consistent and constructive guidance, teaching and individualized mentorship.  All of that without stopping to engage in daily life.

The program follows the teachings that form the solid basis of the where Vajrayāna stands and possibility that the participant can develop the necessary basis for further commitments.

The program starts with identifying our spiritual heritage from the time of the buddha all the way to our days. The importance of lineage, method, connection, and model of practice sequence.

Renunciation is the realization of our condition in cyclic existence, a wish to transcend beyond the states of unsatisfactoriness and constant change that keep us from setting in the present and beyond it.

In relating to a spiritual teacher, we will explore the different kinds of teachers, how to relate, the importance of lineage and training.

The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma is the seminal meditation for the development of renunciation, devotion, compassion and commitment with the Dharma path. It gives us meaning, purpose for this life, a commitment with not wasting this delicate moment and a realization of the totality of the universe beyond the 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.

Mind Training, one of the primary subjects of the Buddhist doctrine, will be approached both in the form of contemplations and in the practice of sitting in Calm Abiding and Insight.

If we act well in this life, we will not only be prepared, but fearless in the face of the most important moment of our life: death. This course will develop our potential to cultivate a deeper relationship to our own death, as well as guidance in being compassionate and intimate toward the deaths of others.

Lastly, the program will conclude with teachings on one of the most valuable and supportive resources available to us as practitioners—Retreat: the reason for it, practical ways to approach and create conducive conditions, the process of how to enact and complete it, and finally to make any available time and space, an opportunity for a retreated mind to thrive.

Our aim is to meet people exactly where they are—to be instructive yet also receptive to the needs and aspirations of pure-hearted practitioners. We will be honored for you to join us in this journey. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or clarifications.

The program will include regular monthly group teachings as well as one-on-one mentorship and dynamic individual guidance to meet you where you are on the path.

The Program will cover:

·     Yānas, schools, traditions and lineages

·     The gradual path

·     Renunciation

·     Following a spiritual teacher

·     The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma

·     Ethics

·     Compassion

·     The Mind of Awakening and its vows

·     Mind Training

·     Calm Abiding

·     Insight

·     Beyond Insight?

·     Preparation for Death

·     Retreat

Image: Tibet. Himalayas 1933: Nicholas Roerich Museum, Inc., New York
https://www.roerich.org