22-Mar to 21-Apr, 2024
UPDATE: The Sarasvati empowerment on Thursday, 11th April is open to everyone, even if you are not attending the retreat. There is no registration fee for the empowerment, but we strongly encourage dana (a donation) to the teacher.
Note: Classes have resumed following cancellation of classes from Tuesday, 26th March to Wednesday, 3rd April.
Lama Mark (Lama Yongdu Chokyi Gyaltsen) is our Spiritual Adviser and one of our Principal Teachers. He is returning to Queenstown this year and has very kindly offered a comprehensive month of public teachings, as described in the table below.
Note: The programme has been updated slightly since it was first published.
The registration fee is $10 per class, with the exception of the first class and any empowerments (which are free) and the retreat, which costs $80 for all 12 classes. Pre-registration is not necessary except for the retreat. To register for this, please email programme@dharmacentre.org.nz. Payments may be made in cash (only) at the centre, or by bank transfer to 38-9006-0765486-09 (Lake Street Trust). Dana (donations) for the teacher will also be gratefully accepted. For more details, please read our page on Dana and Fees.
Whilst we strongly encourage in-person attendance, Lama Mark has agreed to allow access by Zoom to some of the teachings. Students participating by Zoom must commit to attending all of the sessions under any given topic, and must pay the corresponding registration fee in advance. The Zoom column in the table defines the total price for each available topic. If you wish to attend by Zoom, please make payment to 38-9006-0765486-09 (Lake Street Trust) and email programme@dharmacentre.org.nz stating which topic/s you are attending. You will then be sent instructions on how to join.
Morning (am), afternoon (pm) and evening (eve) classes start at 9:30 am, 2 pm and 7 pm, respectively, and run for approximately two hours unless stated otherwise. Out of respect for the teacher, please arrive in time to be seated and settled well before the start of the class.
Personal interviews and checkups with Lama Mark Webber are available upon request from March 25 to April 19.
| Date | Topic | Details | Zoom |
|---|---|---|---|
| March Fri, 22 (eve) | View, meditation, and action. Overview and direct instructions for unfolding the awakening mind. | Presenting the view, meditation, and action of Great Completion (Dzogchen) and other Buddhist traditions. | n/a |
| Sat, 23 (am,pm) Sun, 24 (am,pm) | The Bodhicittavivarana—A commentary on the Awakening Mind | The Bodhicittavivarana—A commentary on the Awakening Mind by the great Master Arya Nagarjuna. Transmission, explanations and guidance of this famous and extraordinary Buddhist text. It covers the full range of the three-cycles of the Buddhist teachings, key principles and instructions of meditation and awakening. | $40 |
Wed, 27 (eve) | |||
Sun, 31 (am) | |||
| April Wed, 3 (eve) | |||
| Fri, 5 (eve) Sat, 6 (am,pm) | 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo | The classic text by Tokme Zangpo, reading transmission, commentary, practice. And excerpts from Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. | $30 |
| Thu, 11 (eve) Fri-Wed, 12-17 (am,pm) | Seven-day retreat: Luminous-spacious Compassion and Wisdom: Sarasvati empowerment (11-Apr) and meditations. Especially renowned for unfolding adamantine Dharma speech, sound, writing, understanding and eloquence. | Sarasvati is a female embodiment of awakened wisdom and compassion. The empowerment (11-Apr), history, instructions, and practice sessions. One retreat goal is to accumulate a minimum of 100,000 recitations. Reading, commentary and transmission of Dza Patrul Rinpoche’s text: The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones: The Practice of View, Meditation, and Action – A Discourse Virtuous in the Beginning, Middle, and End. | n/a |
| Fri, 19 (eve) Sat, 20 (am,pm) Sun, 21 (am) | Empowerment and meditations of glorious Buddha Amitabha. For unfolding Dharma wisdom discernment, pure perception, great love and the realization of bliss-emptiness-awareness. | Empowerment (19-Apr) and meditations of Amitabha, the red Buddha of boundless light. The path of understanding the five aggregates, overcoming the five afflictive emotions and discovering primordial awareness. | n/a |
| Sun, 21 (eve) | Potluck supper, community gathering and farewell. | Community gathering, opportunities for questions and answers. | n/a |
Lama Mark Webber (Lama Yongdu Chokyi Gyaltsen) has been studying, meditating, and teaching Buddha-dharma for almost fifty years. For thirty years his main root teacher was the great Ven. Dorje Namgyal Rinpoche who taught all three cycles of the Buddha’s teachings, including Abhidhamma, Vipassana in the lineage of Mahāsi Sayādaw, generation and completion stage practices of the Tantrayana and Mahamudra/Dzogchen of many lineages, especially of the Karma Kagyu and Sakya. Under the guidance and transmissions of the late Drikung Lho Ontul Rinpoche and requests of H.E. Lho Karma Ratna Rinpoche, Lama Webber has been teaching principally the richness of the Drikung Mahamudra, Drikung Dzogchen Yangzab and Orgyen Nuden Dorje Dzogchen traditions, transmissions of pith texts of Padmasmabhava, Je Gampopa, Jamgön Ju Mipham, Dza Patrul Rinpoche and Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra a transmission from Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche.
He has a deep and long-term interest in the sciences and collaborates in marine biology research and the arts which he integrates with the teaching of Buddhism. Lama Webber is a founding board director of the national ecological research institute IMERSS.
Lama Webber’s compassionate activities demonstrate a profound commitment to freeing beings from innumerable suffering states. His emphasis with practitioners and students is on uncovering pure Dharma to reveal its extraordinary benefits and share the great joy of its deep study, meditative practices and integration into all aspects of our lives.
For more information on Lama Mark please see:
https://www.markwebber.org
http://www.crystalmountain.org
https://dharmacentre.org.nz/
https://www.dharmacentre.org/
https://nybcc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/lamamarkwebber/