New in the View
Dzogchen Center News
Updated 12 Apr 2005
Contents
Latest Changes on
this Website
2001 Membership
Information
New Dharma
Talks
Next
Retreat
Lama Surya's New Book
and CD
E-maho
Newsletter
Practice
& Teachings Announcement
Chant Room
Changes
Register your
e.mail address
Weekly Words of
Wisdom Archive
Ask the Lama Archive
Teaching Tapes
Available
New
Teaching Dates
Other
Websites
Next
Retreat
or just browse down this page....
Latest News
Recently added to the site:
Oct 21 Event for
Lama Surya Das in Los Angeles (5 Oct 2001)
Credit card
option for membership dues (30 Sep 2001)
New
choice for Lama Surya's Book Club (30 Sep 2001)
New
teaching dates for Lama John Makransky (29 Sep 2001)
HH the Dalai Lama's Letter
to the President of the US (17 Sep 2001)
Lama Surya writes on
recent US tragedy (14 Sep 2001)
An
ongoing list of the changes and additions made on the Dzogchen Center web
is available here.
The ordering system for books, CDs and tapes from the Center has recently been completely overhauled and has a new look. Fulfillment has been moved to a new location, and additional products are now being offered. We hope that you will visit this area and browse.
Membership in Dzogchen Center
for 2001
2001 MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM
Lama Surya Das and his associated teachers hope that as many as possible will help the work of Dzogchen Center by becoming members. Please take a moment to read more about this.
To be a Dharma or Dzogchen Student within the Center's Mandala, ongoing membership is generally required; and all others are encouraged to support this vital work by joining. While various levels of contribution are suggested, these are simply guidelines. Any amount will be gratefully received and used to further the activities of Dzogchen Center.
If you prefer to contribute by credit
card, please visit
the Dzogchen Center Store and choose "Membership". This does mean that
some of your contribution is lost to the Foundation by way of bank
charges, but is especially convenient for our overseas members. If joining
by credit card, please still fill out and mail the membership
form.
We are delighted to present a new series of Dharma Talks given recently by Lama Surya. These teachings will be published on a monthly basis, with one new talk appearing at the beginning of each month on this site.
The latest talk is "Landscape of Dharma", published August 2001. Please also read Lama Surya's Introduction to these Talks.
Autumn
Intensive Eight-Day Meditation Retreatwith Lama Surya Das, Dr. Roger Walsh and Lama John Makransky
Camp Newman, Santa Rosa, CA.
Saturday 27 October to Saturday 3 November 2001
We hope you will be able to join us for the Autumn Retreat in the hills bordering Napa Valley. Dzogchen Center retreats have recently been oversubscribed, and it is therefore recommended that those wishing to attend should register as soon as possible. For further detailed information, including an application form, please visit our Retreats page
New Book
& CD 
We are delighted to announce that Lama Surya Das' latest book, Awakening the Buddhist Heart: Integrating Love, Meaning and Connection into Every Part of Your Life (Broadway Books, 2000), is now available from Dzogchen Center, as well as in bookstores.
"Life is about relationship -- the relationship we have with ourselves, with each other, with the world, as well as the connection which is beyond any of us yet immanent in each of us. When our relationships are good, we feel good; when they are bad, we feel awful. Let's accept it: we need each other. We need to feel connected; we need to feel each other's presence and love."
This is how Lama Surya Das introduces his latest work. He defines the
Buddhist heart as our own inner goodness -- our most tender, compassionate
and caring self, our innate Buddha-nature. The Buddhist heart, Bodhicitta,
beats within each and every one of us and is awakened through meaningful
connections --connections to our families, romantic partners, our
colleagues and work, our neighbors, society, and extending out to all
living creatures, including ourselves.
The book also includes Lama
Surya's translation of the rare and invaluable Thirty-seven Practices of a
Bodhisattva - a timeless, legendary Tibetan text; along with his
commentary. These practices for self-reflection help us think about how we
live our lives and the lessons we can learn from mindfulness, love, and
compassion.
An audio
version of the book (abridged), read by Lama Surya, is also
available.
Released at the same time is a companion
CD, Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart, by Lama Surya Das together
with award-winning recording artist, producer and sound healer Steven
Halpern.
Lama Surya says: "These ancient, timeless Tibetan chants
help us to awaken the Buddhist heart -- the radiant Bodhicitta
(enlightened mind) innate in all beings. These are the chants and prayers
I use in my personal meditations. If you chant these today, your spirit
will awaken today; if chanted tonight, your spirit will awaken tonight.
Just listening to them can help open the third ear and delight the third
eye with inner vision, cosmic sound, primordial bliss and divine
light."
Included on this beautifully-produced CD are the following
chants:
Om
Mani Pedme Hung
Purification Mantra of
the Thousand Armed Chenrayzig (Avalokitesvara)
Tara's Mantra
Seven
Line Prayer to the Lotus Born Guru
Wisdom Mantra from the Heart
Sutra
Calling the Lama from Afar
Vajra Guru Mantra
Trikaya Buddha
Mantra
Obstacle Removing and Path-clearing Prayer
Two Prayers to the
Precious Master-guru
and other selections.
Selections from the CD are available on RealAudio in the Chant Room
Chants
to Awaken the Buddhist Heart is available now on CD from Dzogchen
Center as well as in book and record stores.
Lama Surya's last book, Awakening to the Sacred: Building a Spiritual Life from Scratch is now available in paperback from Dzogchen Center or your favourite bookseller.
That followed his previous bestseller, Awakening
the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, also
available from Dzogchen
Center
The Spring edition of E-maho, the Dzogchen Center newsletter, is current. It is available on-line and an announcement has been sent by e.mail to all Dzogchen Center members. This issue includes an enhanced layout with more graphics and new articles. Our thanks go to the Editor.
Practice & Teachings
Dzogchen Center is happy to announce that Lama Surya Das and Lama John Makransky regularly guide practice and give Dharma talks for the public on Monday evenings in Cambridge, MA.
In addition, Lama-led Vajrayana practices (including foundational practices, ngondro) and Lama-led Bodhisattva practices (including mind-heart training, lojong/tong-len) are offered regularly in weekend practice sessions, day-long and weekend retreats.
Please see Teaching Schedule and Retreats on this website, as well as http://www.cambridgedzogchen.org/, for locations, times, and contact information.
The Chant Room
The Dzogchen Center invites you to visit its Chant Room - a peaceful and inspiring alternative to the chat rooms of other sites!
In the Chant Room, you can also hear tracks from Lama Surya's new CD - Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart, with award-winning recording artist Steven Halpern .
Greeting
and
Weekly
Words of
Wisdom
Whether you are a new visitor to the site, or an old friend returning, the Dzogchen Center would like to make sure we have your current e.mail address on file.
In thanks for providing this, you will receive a welcome message about Dzogchen from Lama Surya Das. If you haven't seen this yet, please be sure to do so.
You will also receive every week or so a short message containing precious Words of Wisdom selected by Lama Surya Das, as well as periodic newsletters and announcements from the Dzogchen Center.
Please note that our last newsletter to be sent by regular mail was dispatched during 2000 to all those on our mailing list. No further communications will be sent by regular mail, so the best way to keep in touch with the Dzogchen Center is to ensure that you have registered your e.mail address with us (if you do not have e.mail, keep watching this page!).
To stay connected, you can visit our greeting page, or go straight to register your e.mail. You can also unsubscribe at any time by sending an empty message to mailto:dzogchencenter@mlm.aval.net
Lama's
Archives
Past weekly messages chosen for Dzogchen Center by Lama Surya Das are now available in the Weekly Words of Wisdom Archive.
To receive future Weekly Words of Wisdom, please sign up here.
Lama Surya also writes a periodic column for Beliefnet, "Ask the Lama", in which he answers readers' questions. These articles can now be accessed from Ask the Lama Archive.
Sounds True have recently published four outstanding new teaching tapes by Lama Surya Das:
A highly-recommended collection of four audiotapes by Lama Surya Das is titled Natural Perfection: Teachings, Meditations and Chants in the Dzogchen Tradition of Tibet, and available from the Dzogchen Center. These comprise 5½ hours of teachings and chants by Lama Surya in his unique style. Recorded in Boulder, Colorado during March 1999, this tape set represents a comprehensive introduction to Dzogchen meditation.
In the videotape Tibetan Energy Yoga, he leads a 40 minute practice session drawn from the secret tantric teachings known as the Six Yogas of Tibet.
On audiotape, Tibetan Dream Yoga contains 3 hours of teachings by Lama Surya Das on how to cultivate our innate wakefulness from within the fabric of our dreams.
His latest videotape, Natural Meditation, teaches Dzogchen meditation practices, breathing exercises, skygazing and chanting in a 35 minute session.
These tapes are beautifully produced and contain precious material drawn from current teachings given in the Dzogchen Center's intensive retreat cycle. Written especially for publication on tape, they are highly recommended for all students of Tibetan Buddhism. Listening to tapes is an excellent way to engage in spiritual study, the second of the Six Building Blocks for Spiritual Development recommended by Lama Surya Das.
Support the work of the Dzogchen Center in making the Dharma available and accessible to all, by purchasing these tapes online directly from the Center. Your order will be shipped by return.
The following dates have recently been added to Lama Surya's teaching schedule:
Oct 21 Event in Los
Angeles (5 Oct 2001)
New teaching
date in November at Cambridge Dzogchen Center (7 Sep
2001)
Recent schedule additions for other Dzogchen Center teachers:
Lama John
Makransky weekend at Tibet House in March 2002
Lama John
Makransky weekend at St. Stephen's Priory in May 2002
Lama John
Makransky weeklong at BCBS in May
2002
Lama Surya Das is also associated with two other websites to visit:
Surya.org showcases his books (see above) and includes RealAudio excerpts.
The American Buddhist Center presents a new look at contemporary spirituality, and includes excerpts from teacher Roger Walsh's new book, Essential Spirituality.
(The Dzogchen Center website continues to focus on providing in-depth coverage of the Dzogchen lineage tradition held by Lama Surya Das.)
Notification
If you would care to be notified automatically when this page changes and new information is made available, please see below.
The Dzogchen Center (a project of Dzogchen Foundation) web site was originally pioneered by Lama Surya Das as one of the first comprehensive sites dealing with Buddhism in the West. Thank you for visiting, and we hope that you will come back often to discover the View anew.
For further details see Lama Surya Das' Teaching Schedule.
If you have any difficulties with this web site, please e.mail the webmaster.