Pick from Twelve Upcoming Online Programs Offered by Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala

Tushita Meditation Centre, Tushita Meditation Centre Facebook.

Tushita Meditation Centre, a retreat center in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, has been offering online course after online course since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Many of the courses have been offered for free, with the option to make a donation to Tushita to help keep the center operating while a big source of income - residential retreats - are on hold.

My first visit to Tushita was in early 2014. I joined the first residential retreat of the season, the 10-day Introduction to Buddhism course taught by Venerable Tenzin Legtsok. It was an impactful retreat and I've climbed the mountainside up to Tushita many times since then. 

I've stayed connected with Tushita during the Covid-19 pandemic by participating in their online course The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind taught by American nun Venerable Tenzin Drolma. I enjoyed it a lot.

They have recently added twelve more online courses to their calendar, and circulated the details in an e-newsletter.

Tushita 2020 courses, www.tushita.info.

Tushita's Upcoming Online Courses

"A Big Thank You!

"The support, love & encouragement we have received from all over the world during these challenging times has been absolutely mind blowing and indeed heart warming!

"Thanks to all your help & dedication to the Dharma, Tushita is able to survive the ongoing lockdown and can continue providing free online courses, teachings and other events.

"Please check out our exciting program for the remainder of the year - we are confident that you will find something beneficial & inspiring.

"With warm greetings and gratitude from the monsoony hill!
The Tushita Team"

Upcoming Program

August 4 – 6: Review Sessions of His Holiness Dalai Lama’s Teaching led by Venerable Legtsok

August 5: Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster teaching by Geshe Lhakdor

August 11 – 16: Becoming Your Own Therapist led by Venerable Jamyang

August 17 – 28: The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind led by Venerable Drolma

August 31 – September 11: Going Deeper: The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind led by Venerable Drolma

September 14 – 19 (September 20 Sponsor Day): Developing the Fearless Heart: The Answer for Today’s Troubled World led by Venerable Jamyang

September 21 – October 14 (October 15 & 16 Sponsor Day): Insight into Emptiness (intermediate) led by Venerable Drolma

October 19 – 30: The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind led by Venerable Drolma

November 2 – 13: Going Deeper: The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind led by Venerable Drolma

November 15 – 19 (November 20 Sponsor Day): Cultivating Mindfulness and Emotional Balance led by Glen Svensson

November 19: Lhabab Düchen

November 23 – December 3 (December 4 Sponsor Day): Healing & Transforming Emotions (intermediate) led by Venerable Drolma

Class Times

Students join these online courses from all over the world, which is one of the things I loved about the online classes I joined. Since it would be hard to find a class time that works for everyone, students who registered for a course will receive the recordings for that course in case they can't make it to the live classes. Classes are held on Zoom.

Cost

Many of these courses are being offered for free. The others are offered as fundraisers for Tushita and have different pricing levels to make them accessible to more people.

After you register for a free course you will receive a confirmation email with all of the course details including information on how to make an optional donation.

This is from the email I just received after registering for a course:

"Offerings: Tushita is an NGO which covers its costs primarily through the donations from holding residential courses (that we are currently unable to host). This online program is only possible because of the kindness and generosity of previous students and benefactors.

"We are in our 5th month of lockdown and still have many bills to keep the center going and offer these online programs during this difficult time. We would really benefit from anyone that is able to make an offering. Anything is helpful.

"If you’d like to practice generosity and create great merit, please do so by donating to Tushita on our secure website:

"https://fpmt.org/support/tushita/ Select “Online Course” from the drop-down bar. Please include the Course Name in the Comment Section.

"Or support us by sponsoring an item from our wish-list:

Amazon wish-list"

Experience Level

All but the September 21 - October 14 course are open to beginners and experienced students alike. The September 21 - October 14 course Insight into Emptiness with Venerable Drolma has some pre-requisites.

The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind, www.tushita.info.

Where to Start

If you're new to Tushita and/or new to Buddhism then I recommend registering for the free two-week course The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind that I joined this year.

The course will be offered twice more in 2020: August 17 - 28 and October 19 - 30. (Class does not meet on the weekends.)

The Tushita website says, "Our resident teacher, Ven. Drolma, along with our meditation leader, Felipe, will be leading daily sessions Monday through Friday live via Zoom (an online platform). You will be able to see one-another and even ask questions directly!

"We will be offering online teachings and meditations in a program similar in content to our Introduction to Buddhism courses: Four Noble Truths & Mind, Buddha Nature & Meditation, Impermanence & Reincarnation, 4 Immeasurables & Bodhicitta, Karma & Purification, Equanimity & Anger, Attachment & Exchanging Self/Others, Emptiness & Selflessness and Refuge & Joyous Effort."

A big bonus of this online course is that the teacher, Venerable Tenzin Drolma, assisted by meditation teacher Felipe, offer the same class twice live each day, giving students in different time zones the chance to join class live and ask questions. This is an amazingly kind gift given how much work and time must be involved in offering even a single class session.

The course also includes group discussion time, similar to the residential retreats offered at Tushita. Participants will be divided up into Zoom meeting rooms to discuss with each other as part of the course. There is also time for questions and answers with the teacher, and guided meditations led by Felipe.

Read more about all of the upcoming courses and register on www.tushita.info.

Free Introduction to Buddhism Booklet

You could also get started by reading the free Introduction to Buddhism booklet that is given to residential retreat students. It's available for download on www.tushita.info in English and Hebrew. 

(Israelis are one of the most represented nationalities in Tushita residential retreats. I recommend reviewing Tushita's 2009 - 2019 student statistics report complete with bar graphs and pie charts to see who is climbing the mountainside to Tushita in Dharamsala.)