Category Archives: Lineage

Guest Teacher: Khenpo Norgay Rinpoche

Guest teacher Khenpo Norgay Rinpoche will offer a public talk on Cultivating Compassion using Tonglen Meditation at the Bozeman Dharma Center on Saturday, May 18. This events is hosted by the Palyul Tibetan Buddhist Sangha, No registration necessary. Suggested donation of $10 to support the teacher.

Additional teachings will be given May 16th-19th

For further information please contact: Palyul Montana
Email: info@palyulmontana.org
Phone: 406-587-2907

Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche was born in the Tashigang District of Bhutan in 1965. After completing Jigme Sherubling High School in 1986, he joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the prestigious Buddhist studies and research center, at Namdroling Monastery in Mysore. At the Institute he studied under Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Namdrol Tsering and Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso and other visiting professors, including Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Pema Tsewang from Tibet.

He completed the Shedra program at the Institute in 1995 and joined the Institute staff, teaching there for three years. He was formally enthroned as Khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in 1998 and was assigned by His Holiness to teach at the Buddhist college at Palyul monastery in Tibet.

He has received all the major empowerments of the Rinchen Terzod, Nam Cho, Nyingthik Yabshi and Nyingma Kama from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche as well as the Mipham Kabum from His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Because of his knowledge and experience, and fluent command of the English language, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche has assigned him to teach students in the United States in conjunction with the ongoing teaching programs offered by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche.

Guest Teacher: Anushka Fernadopulle

InsightMichael Palmer

We’re thrilled to welcome guest teacher, Anushka Fernandopulle, a guiding teacher at Spirit Rock and IMS, who’s featured on many apps and mindfulness pods. During her stay in Bozeman, Anushka is offering many opportunities for practice:

Guest at MindSpace on Tuesday, May 14

Two Wings of the Dharma: Classes on Wednesdays, May 15 & 22:

Over two Wednesday classes evenings, Anushka will share teachings and meditations that develop the two wings of dharma practice: Wisdom and Compassion. This first one will explore the essentials of Wisdom or Insight practice that reveals to us the nature of our experience and ‘purifies’ the heart-mind. Appropriate for all levels of meditation experience.

Come to one or both as your schedule allows, prior registration requested. Zoom option. PLEASE REGISTER HERE

Guest at Bozeman Insight, Thursday May 16: Q&A with the Insight sangha to hear stories, highs and lows from Anushka’s journey in the dharma. These informal, conversational evenings are entertaining and inspiring and help us get to know the teacher. Everyone welcome to drop in, room or zoom.

Mindfulness for LGBTQI+ Community, Friday, May 17: This evening is for queer meditators or wanna-learn meditators of all stripes and rainbow colors. Anushka will offer an evening of Mindfulness instruction, practice and Q&A just for LGBTQI+ people. Come meet other mindful folks and let’s see if there’s interest in launching a Queer sangha at the Dharma Center. Offered freely.

Mindfulness in Nature: Daylong retreat on Saturday, May 18 (In person only):

Anushka will teach the art of savoring nature’s beauty with mindfulness. There will be a long lunch break for hiking and being out on the Triple Tree trails.

This day is appropriate for those new to meditation or practitioners with experience. Please pre-register through the Dharma Center’s website. Zoom option will not be available. Registration is now open here.

Anushka describes her background:

I have trained in Buddhist meditation for over 30 years, primarily Vipassana or Insight Meditation (the source of secular Mindfulness). After studying Buddhism at Harvard, I spent four years in full-time meditation training in the US, India and Sri Lanka. I was invited to teach Dharma in 1998 and later went through a four year meditation teacher training program with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and other leading Western Buddhist meditation teachers. I joined the Teacher’s Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2011. My work has been featured in publications like Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Turning Wheel, Inquiring Mind, as well as on my blog on the Huffington Post about dharma and politics.

Give Big 2024

Non-denominationalMichael Palmer

This year, the BDC is fundraising to support our many teachers, local and visiting, who provide Dharma teaching at our space and on Zoom. We call our campaign – Teachers are the vessel of the Dharma – they bring forth the teaching of the Buddha, the freedom from suffering. We are fortunate that our teachers offer in person and online teachings.

Our $13,000 goal is for travel and hosting costs of visiting teachers as well as offer financial, administrative, and marketing support to our local teachers.

If you are able, please make your gift soon,

With warm bows to all,

Karen DeCotis
BDC Executive Director

Give Big Now

Event: Insight Teacher Jill Shepherd

InsightMichael Palmer

Join the Bozeman and Butte Insight Communities in welcoming Insight Teacher Jill Shepherd (via Butte’s Zoom Room-see below) for a morning of meditation, instruction, and conversation on Sunday, May 5 from 10-11:30 AM.

Jill Shepherd began practicing insight meditation in Thailand in 1999, and since that time has lived and worked at several meditation centers and monasteries in the US, Australia, England, and Thailand.

She recently spent seven years on staff at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts, where she participated in several long retreats and Buddhist study programs, as well as offering weekly meditation classes at a nearby men’s prison.

She is a graduate of the IMS / Spirit Rock teacher training program in the US, under the guidance of Joseph Goldstein and Gil Fronsdal.

Currently, she divides her time mostly between the USA, Australia and New Zealand, teaching vipassana and brahma vihara retreats and offering ongoing study and practice groups focused on bringing the dharma into daily life. She also leads courses and non-residential workshops exploring the relational practice of Insight Dialogue, as developed by Gregory Kramer and colleagues.

You can learn more about Jill here.

Freely offered over the Butte sangha’s zoom (no need to register). Donations to support the teacher gratefully accepted.

https://zoom.us/j/567641174
Meeting ID: 567 641 174
pass code 628468

Weekend Retreat: Kathie Fischer

Weekend Retreat, ZenMichael Palmer

Kathie Fischer returns to Bozeman with this weekend retreat on the Therigatha– Teachings of the First Buddhist Women. Hosted by the Bozeman Zen Group, the retreat will take place May 3-5. This retreat will take place in person and via Zoom.

During the weekend, Kathie Fischer will help us discover the lives and teachings of early Elder Buddhist nuns through their stories, poems, and histories. These poignant tales of courage, tragedy and commitment can inspire us in our lives even 2500 years later.

With a mixture of zazen, stories, poems and dialogue we will enjoy the weekend with Kathie, our good friend and teacher.

About Kathie Fischer

Sokaku Ryotan Kathie Fischer began practicing Zen in 1971 with Sojun Mel Weitsman at the Berkeley Zen Center. She was ordained a Zen priest at San Francisco Zen Center in 1980 by Zentatsu Richard Baker, and continued residential practice at Zen Center for 15 more years. Kathie also studied and practiced with Maurine Stuart MyoOn Roshi.

She received Dharma transmission from Sojun Weitsman in 2011 while in the midst of her 28-year career as a school teacher in Mill Valley. Since retiring from teaching science to adolescents she has turned her attention to studying and teaching Dharma.

Event: Meditation with Ying Chen

InsightMichael Palmer

Enjoy a morning of meditation with Ying Chen on Sunday, April 28 at 10 AM. Ying Chen was born in China and immigrated to US as a young adult. She took refuge with Venerable Ji Ru in 1995. After coming to the US, she first practiced Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Since 2001, she’s been drawn to the Theravada tradition and has been practicing primarily under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal at his center in California. Ying is a graduate of the Sati Center Chaplaincy program and Local Dharma Leader program from Insight Meditation Center (IMC). She currently facilitates the IMC support group for people living with illness and co-leads IMC’s Asian Dharma Circle with Lilu Chen.

This morning of meditation with Ying Chen is brought to you by the Bozeman and Butte Insight Communities. This event is freely offered. You do not need to pre-register. Donations to support the teacher are gratefully accepted. Instructions for how to do so will be detailed on Sunday.

You can sample Ying Chen’s guided meditations and dharma talks on IMC’s archives here.

Please note that this event will occur over Zoom but NOT the BDC’s normal Zoom number. Please use the Butte Zoom Meeting # 567 641 174 (or click on the button below) and enter password: 628468

BDC Community Meeting

From the Board, Non-denominationalMichael Palmer

The BDC Community Meeting is your chance to learn more about how the BDC operates, what the staff does, where the money goes, and give input for our future direction! This meeting is so important that we hold it twice! Once on Sunday, April 21 from 4-5:30 PM and again on Monday, April 22 from 7-8:30 PM. You can attend in person or via Zoom. Both meetings will have the same content.

Half-day Koan Salon

Half-Day Retreat, ZenMichael Palmer

This half-day Koan Salon on Saturday, April 20 with Michael Smith and Karen DeCotis is a restful, inclusive way to practice with koans. Koan is a Japanese term that refers to a legal public case. In Zen, koans are designed to give us pause, to enter deeply our own case. We will spend the morning sitting several short periods of zazen, each with a phrase, a story, a poem. There will be walking meditation, and time after each “koan” to consider together. All are welcome. No previous experience with koans is necessary. Sliding scale of $25-$50; scholarships available. Space is limited. Please register in advance for the half-da Koan Salon by clicking here.

About the Bozeman Zen Group

The Bozeman Zen Group provides half-day practice retreats regularly on Zoom and in-person to offer a time to stabilize and deepen our zazen practice, hear the teaching and engage with Zen forms. If you are new to retreat practice, and wish to learn more about how to participate, contact us at bznzen@gmail.com.

We are open to all who are interested in Zen and those curious about basic Buddhist practice.

We are currently affiliated with Branching Streams, an organization of sanghas in the Soto Zen lineage of Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center. Several of our members work with Zen teachers of other lineages. We are one of the resident sanghas at the Bozeman Dharma Center. All are welcome!

Event: Frequency Vibration SoundGate

Non-denominationalMichael Palmer

The April 5th SoundGate program features a frequency vibration soundscape created by Jessie Solon. Enter a timeless space of listening as Jessie facilitates deep states of relaxation through the intentional use of overtone rich, sound healing instruments including crystal and Himalayan singing bowls, a symphonic gong, bells & chimes, wave, and monochord. The layering of these frequency vibration elements will offer a unique sound experience that will encourage a tangible shift in perceptual awareness, as well as an increased sense of nourishment and well-being. No registration necessary! Donations welcome; any funds collected will be split equally between the BDC and the facilitator.

Jessie Salon creates frequency vibration soundscapes

Class: Writing Meditation

Classes, Non-denominationalMichael Palmer

We’re excited to have Dr. Marilia Librandi host a writing meditation workshop for our Mindful Creativity series on April 14. Marilia excels at creating a space to create freely, to experiment with forms and content, to discover our spontaneous mind, to let our inner critic speak but not to stop us, to express ourselves effortlessly and to surprise ourselves with the energy of our listening words.

It’s a workshop inspired by the encounter between Allen Ginsberg and Trungpa Rinpoche, carried on by Natalie Goldberg’s writing practice, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel’s spiritual writings and Brazilian Clarice Lispector’s “writing by ear.”

Marília Librandi has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She taught Brazilian Literature and Culture at Stanford University and at Princeton University. She is the author of Writing by Ear (Univ.of Toronto Press, 2018) and co-editor of Transpoetic Exchange (Bucknell Press, 2020). Learn more on her website: https://mywritinglab.org/

Here’s what past participants have said about Marilia’s workshops:

“Marilla’s writing lab spurs my daily creativity in ways I never expected. I’m delighted to have more clarity about my intentions, with fresh ideas on how to live and work. Most of all, the rich exchange of sharing spontaneous writing is a treasure. Kind listening and warm encouragement ‘ go a long way to make writing both joyful and rewarding.” -Margaret Kachadurian

“I really appreciate how Marilia makes the Writing Lab a group experience where it feels safe to write from a place of freedom and vulnerability. She offers inspiring prompts for our writing and maintains a structure that supports good conversation and writing time. I thoroughly enjoy my time at the Writing Lab!” -Travis Burdick

Registration fees will be split between the BDC and the facilitator. No need to bring extra dana.