Tag Archives: Dharmalaya

Opening the Heart: Joy of Living 2 Retreat (@Dharmalaya, 29 May – 4 Jun 2020)

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What: Meditation retreat (residential)

Topic: Opening the heart with meditation

Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India

When: 29 May – 4 June 2020

Language: English

Facilitators: Tsunma Kunsang Palmo and Mark Moore, with yoga led by Daphne Charles

Description:

A six-day meditation retreat designed by world-renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, with special features unique to the retreats at Dharmalaya, including a yoga programme integrated with the meditation instruction.

Meditation empowers us to use any situation or experience, even difficult emotions and pain, as a gateway to joy and inner peace. In this second retreat in the Joy of Living series, we explore ways in which meditation can be used to create an open and joyful heart.

Over these six days, we will explore how meditating on love, compassion, joy and equanimity can open our hearts to the world around us and decrease the self-fixation that lies at the root of suffering. In this retreat, we will examine:

  • How our tendency to fixate on our own wellbeing creates anxiety and suffering
  • How positive mental states like love and compassion erode the causes of dissatisfaction
  • How these positive mental states can be cultivated through meditation
  • How ordinary experiences, and even ‘negative’ factors like difficult emotions and physical pain, can be transformed

For details and registration, see this page. 

Training and Volunteer Work Period at Dharmalaya (6-25 April 2020)

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What: Training and Volunteer Work Period

Topic: Earthen building, organic gardening, and permaculture landscaping

Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India

When: 6-25 April 2020 (see below for details)

Language: English

Facilitators: Dharmalaya staff, including Anushka Joshi

Description: Volunteer work period, beginning with a six-day residential workshop to provide introductory hands-on training in some of the foundational skills of compassionate living as practiced at Dharmalaya Institute, including meditation, earthen building, organic gardening, and permaculture landscaping, followed by two weeks of volunteer work (which optionally can be extended for another one or two weeks if you wish, until as late as 9th May). The actual training activities will depend on weather and the needs on site at the time. There will be a two-week practicum after the initial training workshop to support participants to deepen your skills and understanding further through practice on site.

For details and registration, see this page. 

Calming the Mind — Joy of Living 1 Retreat @Dharmalaya (9-14 March 2020)

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What: Meditation retreat (residential)

Topic: Calming the mind with meditation

Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India

When: 9-14 March 2020 (see below for details)

Language: English

Facilitators: Mark Moore

Description: A six-day meditation retreat designed by world-renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, with special features unique to the retreats at Dharmalaya.

Awareness meditation empowers us to use any situation or experience, even difficult emotions and pain, as a gateway to joy and inner peace. In this first retreat in the Joy of Living series, we explore ways in which awareness meditation can be used to create a peaceful mind and joyful heart.

Over these six days, we will explore the landscape of our experience with mindfulness and presence, learning how to use the body, sensory experiences, thoughts, emotions, and even awareness itself as supports for meditation.

This retreat is suitable for people of all backgrounds, including experienced meditators and those who are new to meditation.

For details and registration, see this page. 

Calming the Mind — Joy of Living 1 Retreat @Dharmalaya (7-12 Oct 2019)

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What: Meditation retreat (residential)

Topic: Calming the mind with meditation

Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India

When: 7-12 October 2019 (see below for details)

Language: English

Facilitators: Tsunma Kunsang Palmo and Mark Moore, with yoga led by Daphne Charles

Description: A six-day meditation retreat designed by world-renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, with special features unique to the retreats at Dharmalaya, including a yoga programme integrated with the meditation instruction.

Awareness meditation empowers us to use any situation or experience, even difficult emotions and pain, as a gateway to joy and inner peace. In this first retreat in the Joy of Living series, we explore ways in which awareness meditation can be used to create a peaceful mind and joyful heart.

Over these six days, we will explore the landscape of our experience with mindfulness and presence, learning how to use the body, sensory experiences, thoughts, emotions, and even awareness itself as supports for meditation.

This retreat is suitable for people of all backgrounds, including experienced meditators and those who are new to meditation.

For details and registration, see this page. 

Sustainable Thriving Intensive Workshop (11-28 Jun 2019 @Dharmalaya)

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Raising the Roof

What: Intensive workshop-retreat (residential)

Topic: Sustainable Thriving: principles and practices for better living, including permaculture, earthen building, and creative life design

When: 11-28 June 2019 (must attend from the start and stay for the duration), with an optional extended practicum afterward.

Language: English (with Hindi translation if requested)

Facilitators: Mark Moore and artisans from the Dharmalaya community

Description: An eighteen-day residential training workshop exploring key principles and practices of “sustainable thriving,” including voluntary simplicity, permaculture, earthen building, and creative life design. The first six days will provide initial training with hands-on workshops during the day and presentations/discussions in the evenings; the middle six days will be a practicum for improving skills and deepening understanding through morning and afternoon work sessions, while continuing our discussions and explorations in the evenings; and the final six days will be organized according to the needs on site and the interests of the group. For those desiring even more hands-on experience, there will be an optional extended practicum providing an opportunity to improve your skills and understanding further by working alongside our team of artisans. There will be group meditation sessions in the mornings and evenings, and opportunities to practice yoga or chi kung.

› What is ‘sustainable thriving’ and why should I care?
See this page for an introduction.

For information and registration, see this page. 

Calming the Mind — Joy of Living 1 Retreat @Dharmalaya (14-16 Apr 2019)

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What: Meditation retreat (residential)

Topic: Calming the mind with meditation

Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India

When: 14-16 April 2019 (see below for details)

Language: English

Facilitators: Tsunma Kunsang Palmo and Mark Moore

Description: A three-day meditation retreat designed by world-renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Awareness meditation empowers us to use any situation or experience, even difficult emotions and pain, as a gateway to joy and inner peace. In this first retreat in the Joy of Living series, we explore ways in which awareness meditation can be used to create a peaceful mind and joyful heart.

Over these three days, we will explore the landscape of our experience with mindfulness and presence, learning how to use the body, sensory experiences, thoughts, emotions, and even awareness itself as supports for meditation.

This retreat is suitable for people of all backgrounds, including experienced meditators and those who are new to meditation.

For details and registration, see this page at the Dharmalaya Institute’s website.

Compassionate Living Intensive Workshop (15-26 Apr 2019 @Dharmalaya)

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What: Intensive workshop-retreat (residential)

Topic: Designing a life of compassion in action, integrating personal and professional development with a lifestyle of sustainable thriving

When: 15-26 April 2019 (must attend from the start and stay for the duration)

Language: English (with Hindi translation if requested)

Facilitators: Mark Moore and other members of the Dharmalaya faculty and community

Description: Twelve-day residential workshop-retreat focused on creating a more compassionate life, through opening the heart, informing the mind, developing our innate qualities of sensitivity and compassion, and putting that compassion into practice by reducing our harm footprints and increasing our help footprints in all spheres of life. The primary emphasis in this programme is on identifying areas of our lives where we need to change and grow in order to become more compassionate citizens of the world and more effective agents of positive change.

For more details and the application form, see the Dharmalaya Institute’s website.

Vernacular Eco-architecture Workshop (15-29 Oct 2015 @Dharmalaya)

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What: Intensive Service-Learning Workshop in the Vernacular Eco-architecture of the Himalayas
Activities: Hands-on training in earthen architecture
When: 15-29 October 2015 (must attend from the start)
Where: Dharmalaya Institute, Bir (Ghornala)
Languages: English (with Hindi translation if requested)
Facilitators: Dharmalaya faculty and artisans, e.g. Mark Moore, et al.

DharmalayaDescription: Residential service-learning programme at the Dharmalaya Institute with hands-on training in earthen building and more. Learn to build eco-friendly structures in the neo-traditional Kangra style of esteemed eco-architect Didi Contractor, while contemplating our relationship with nature and the values of sustainable and compassionate living.

› What is Vernacular Eco-Architecture? See this page for an introduction.

After the introductions, orientation, and general overview of the programme, we will get straight to work doing various hands-on projects around the Dharmalaya campus, including work on several earthen structures that are in various stages of construction. The two main focal points during this programme will be raising the walls of a new earthen structure while doing some finishing work on another. The work will include adobe and other earthen techniques, and may also include stone, bamboo and slate, as well as mud plaster, landscape architecture, and possibly other activities. We will also have theory discussions and other presentations and explorations. If circumstances allow, we may also have a small participatory design process (depending on the needs on site at the time).

For information and registration, see dharmalaya.in/events/2015/3/29/vernacular-eco-architecture-workshop-15-29-oct-2015.html

Hatha Yoga Pradipika Course (4-14 July @ Dharmalaya)

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Yoga at Dharmalaya

What: Residential course on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India
When: 4-14 July 2015 (must attend from the beginning)
Language: English (with Hindi translation if requested)
Instructors: Roshan Palat and his assistants

Description: A ten-day residential course exploring the rich world of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (one of the most influential of the great classic texts on hatha yoga), through both practice instruction and philosophical explorations.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Skt. haṭhayōgapradīpikā, हठयोगप्रदीपिका; literally ‘Clear Light on Sun-Moon Union’) was written in the 15th century CE by Swami Svātmārāma, a disciple of Swami Gorakhnath, drawing on the great wisdom of earlier yoga texts and synthesizing a definitive work that survived the test of time over centuries. Even today, it is regarded as one of the greatest authoritative sources on Hatha Yoga. In fact, scholars view this text as establishing the very definition of hatha yoga as the term is used today.

This course will cover both practice and theory, including:

  • Asanas: Instruction and practice in hatha yoga asanas from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
  • Philosophy: Exploration of the profound meaning of the text
  • Advanced practice elements: Pranayama, mudra, bandha, dharana, and dhyana

For more information see dharmalaya.in/events/2015/3/27/hatha-yoga-pradipika-course-4-14-jul-2015.html

Earthen Building Workshop (22-27 June @ Dharmalaya)

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DharmalayaWhat: Intensive service-learning workshop
Topic: Earthen building methods & techniques
Where: Dharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India
When: 22-27 June 2015 (must attend from the beginning)
Language: English (with Hindi translation if needed)
Facilitators: Mark Moore, Sidney Rosario, et al.

Description: Week-long, residential service-learning programme at the Dharmalaya Institute providing hands-on training in traditional, eco-friendly earthen building techniques of the Himalayas. Learn by doing, in the real-world context of helping to build a few new structures on the Dharmalaya campus. Activities will depend on the needs on site (and the weather), but are likely to include earthen renders (mud plasters), foundations and plinth, stonework, and possibly other methods and techniques of earthen building.

› What is Vernacular Eco-Architecture? See this page for an introduction.

After introductions, orientation, and general overview of the programme, we will get straight to work doing various hands-on projects around the Dharmalaya campus, including work on several earthen structures that are in various stages of construction. The main focus during this programme will be on plastering and weatherproofing our newest buildings so they will be protected from the rains. The work might include mud plasters, foundation work, stonework, and possibly other techniques. We may do some water flow management as well, in preparation for the coming rainy season.

Workshops and groups sessions may include the following (depending on weather and the needs of the site):

  • Hands-on education in traditional earthen building methods of the Himalayas
    • Earthen renders (mud plasters)
    • Foundation and plinth work
    • Other natural building materials and methods (e.g. stone, bamboo, wood, etc.)
  • Natural landscaping and water management

What to expect:

  • Practical, hands-on training focus (no theory classes in this workshop).
  • Opportunities to learn traditional methods by working alongside village artisans.
  • You will be working with your hands and body for approximately six hours per day on most days of the programme, so it is recommended to be in reasonably good physical fitness when you arrive, and to bring work clothes.
  • Beautiful, rustic, village setting with a simple lifestyle.

For more information see dharmalaya.in/events/2015/3/25/earthen-building-workshop-22-27-jun-2015.html