Programming Highlights of 2022

Going into our third year of the pandemic, Lama Tenzin started a new short text exploring resting, movement and awareness ever present in our minds with a Dzogchen text by Mipham Rinpoche called The Mind of Right Now. And in November, for the first time in 3 years, he traveled to Houston for our first in person retreat to continue teaching All Creating Majesty, now in its 5 th year. Participants always express how clear and practical Lama Tenzin’s teachings are at pointing out very specific meditative experiences that are truly enlightening. It is extremely rare and fortunate for students to hear these teachings, taught with such clarity, from a teacher talking from his own experience, as we receive them from Lama Tenzin.

Adzom Gyaltse Rinpoche, blessed us with his presence with The Life and Times of Adzom Drukpa which brought to life the Adzom lineage with well-researched, detailed, and inspiring stories. The recording of these teachings are available, as all of our teachings.

The 2022-23 Dzogchen Cycles year immersed the faithful Cycle’s students with Avalokiteshvara’s complete Dzogchen teachings revealed to Adzom Paylo Rinpoche in 2016 Potu Island. Truly a special heart-revealing treasure, this was especially blessed in that Dawn Mountain’s own Lama Rigzin Drolma was present on Potu Island at the time of the revealing.

The work that the Program Working Group did in the last several years to bring programming that speaks to members through a more Western mind and methods paid off this summer, when Dr. Deana Bodnar, who is a serious practitioner in the Gelukpa tradition and has a PhD in Neurobiology, taught a very successful class on the Neurobiology of Meditation.

Our Lamas also have done two free public talks this Fall, one with the Houston Coalition Against Hate and one with Compassionate Houston. This has been important as we attempt to increase the Houston presence in the Dawn Mountain community.

This fall has kept Emily, our Digital Manager busy video-taping and editing as our Lamas develop an ongoing, 4- semester, Ngondro, Foundational Practice course that will start this coming January 7 th . The course will have a monthly, live, teaching session with Lama’s Rigzin Drolma and Dorje Namgyal, allowing students to start when they want with asynchronous participation. Not only are our Lamas developing this course, Lama Rigzin Drolma will also be publishing the translation of Lamp Lighting the Path by Adzom Drukpa (1842-1924) in the summer of 2024. This translation explicitly connects us with classic Indian Buddhist sources and the living heritage of the wide circle of Jigme Lingpa’s dharma heirs and their followers, which will strengthen our connection to the lineal blessings of the Adzom Drukpa transmission.

This year not only has brought us these additions to our curriculum, but has also brought us a new Interim Executive Director, Wendy Fillmore, who stepped off the board to fill this badly needed position in February.

Finally, the Board of Directors made the difficult decision to sell our building at 3100 W. Fuqua St. due to the high cost of ongoing renovations and other changes resulting from the pandemic.  Updates to the possible sale of the building will be forthcoming in another communication soon.