Practicing with the Tergar Meditation Community During Covid-19

Mingyur Rinpoche teaching at Tergar Osel Ling Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, January 2017, Rinpoche's Facebook page.

Tergar International is a meditation community under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (Mingyur Rinpoche). They offer online and in-person programs that help people from all spiritual traditions learn to live with awareness, compassion, and wisdom.

Tergar International

Tergar International has been reaching out, offering more opportunities to learn and practice meditation in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Tergar has created a COVID-19 page on the Tergar website. It says "... Tergar International has suspended all in-person events and gatherings for the time being. Our biggest concern is to help alleviate the suffering caused by anxiety, fear, and grief. With so many people in social isolation, we are putting all our resources into supporting virtual meetings to sustain local groups and the development of an online resource and teaching program for the broader community.

"As Mingyur Rinpoche wrote in The Joy of Living, 'The best form of security we can offer ourselves is to develop an open heart.' Our practice is what helps to be present, openhearted, and responsive at this challenging time. When we remember awareness, we remember our connection with the world and others."

Mingyur Rinpoche

Mingyur Rinpoche gave a one-hour talk "Living With Distress" on Sunday, March 29, 2020 from 9:00-10:00 AM PT. It was livestreamed on Tergar's new Tergar Meditation Community channel:



Watch a short (eight-minute) video from Mingyur Rinpoche on the crisis published on March 15 on the Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche YouTube channel.

He will give another live teaching on Sunday, April 5 at 3:00 AM PT using Tergar's new Tergar Meditation Community YouTube channel. It will be translated into a variety of languages. Check the video description field beneath the video.

There will be a Q&A at the end of the teaching. Enter your questions for Rinpoche in the chat with the hashtag #AskMingyurRinpoche

Get Help with Your Meditation Practice

Subscribe to the Email Newsletter and YouTube Channels

Sign up to receive the email newsletter by going to "Stay Connected" on the lefthand side of the Tergar website.

Subscribe to the new YouTube channel Tergar Meditation Community because it is being used to livestream and then archive events. Set up notifications so you don't miss out on an opportunity to join a livestream. Here's how to do that if you need some help.

Upcoming YouTube livestream events are listed on the Tergar website. Tergar instructor Tim Olmsted is giving a teaching on the Tergar Mediation Community YouTube channel on Thursday, April 2 at 1:00 PM PT. It will be recorded and then shared on the YouTube channel. 

Take a Free Online Course

Register for a free four-part Introduction to Meditation course taught by Mingyur Rinpoche. Suitable for beginners and experienced meditators, the course covers how to get started with meditation, how to work with difficult emotions in meditation, how to meditate using sound, how to meditate using the breath, and how to meditate using awareness. Get started by creating a free account on the Tergar E-Learning website and then register for the course. It can be taken at any time. 

Find a Tergar Group to Connect and Practice with Online

Check out the directory of Tergar practice groups and reach out to your local practice group to see if they are offering online programming. Sign up for their email newsletter.

My local Tergar practice group is meeting regularly on Zoom. We had eighteen people meditating together and checking in with each other. Tergar practice groups are welcoming new members. There is no cost involved.

Tergar instructor Tim Olmsted met with several of the Tergar practice groups via Zoom on Saturday, March 28 to offer support and guidance. Listen to a recording of that call.

Learn from Mingyur Rinpoche and Tergar-certified Instructors

Watch videos of Mingyur Rinpoche teaching on the Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche YouTube channel such as "How to do retreat in daily life?"



Watch videos of Mingyur Rinpoche teaching in Tibetan with simultaneous translation into English on the Karmapa YouTube channel. Search that channel for the videos of Mingyur Rinpoche teaching during the 37th Kagyu Monlam in 2020.

Download free MP3 files of Mingyur Rinpoche leading guided meditations.

Tergar instructors have been offering livestreamed guided meditations on the new Tegar Meditation Community channel, such as the March 23 video "A Steady Heart in Turbulent Times with Edwin Kelley and Antonia Sumbundu."

The Tergar Meditation Community Soundcloud channel has a large collection of free audio recordings.

Read Mingyur Rinpoche's Newest Book

In Love with the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying by Mingyur Rinpoche with Helen Tworkov was published in 2019. It is a beautiful book, and the e-book might be available from your local (perhaps temporarily closed) public library. An excerpt is available free online.

Read a short article about Mingyur Rinpoche's four year wandering retreat, the basis for the newest book, or listen to an interview with Mingyur Rinpoche and Helen Tworkov.