Lama Palzang Welkom in Amsterdam!We hebben hem al eerder uitgenodigd en nu is het dan eindelijk zover: Lama Palzang komt naar Amster-dam! Lama Palzang werd geboren in Tibet en ontving daar van jongs af aan Dharma onderricht. Sinds 2002

assisteert Lama Palzang Tarthang Rinpoche bij grootschalige projecten in Azie. Hij woont en werkt nu in Berkeley, California, waar hij samen met zijn vrouw, Pema Gellek, onlangs werd benoemd tot Dean van het Nyingma Institute. We zijn enorm verheugd dat hij be-reid is een stukje van zijn rijkdom aan ervaring met ons te komen delen en hopen veel men-sen te mogen begroeten bij het gevarieerde programma dat hij ons aanbiedt.

Welcome to Amsterdam, Lama Palzang!We are very happy that after many, many invitations Lama Palzang finally found time to visit the Nyingma Centers in Europe.The programs he will teach in Amsterdam reflect the richness and variety of his tradition. We hope many people will join us for the three day-retreat on Four Immeasurables, the one - day retreat on Stages of Meditation or the one - day workshop on Medicine Buddha Practice. Of course you’re very welcome to attend all programs. We have a limited number of beds available at no extra charge. If you want to join us from outside Amsterdam, please reserve asap by email, thank you.

Lama Palzang is a Nyingma lama who was born in the Gyarong region of Tibet, where from a very young age, he was trained in the dharma under Jigme Tenpa Dargye Rinpoche. He was formally educated at Minyak Lhagang Monastery in Kham and trained in the Longchen Nyingtik tradition under his root teachers, Khenchen Chodrak Rinpoche and Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche. He completed a traditional three year retreat under Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche in BeyulYolmo, Nepal. Since 2002, Lama Palzang has assisted Tarthang Rinpoche with large-scale dharma projects in Asia. Lama Palzang is the co-dean of the Nyingma institute in Berkeley, California, where he teaches classes on Buddhist Studies and Nyingma Meditation and guides traditional dharma retreats.

Program Overview:

Sunday Feb 25 10.00 -16.00 € 95/751-day retreat ‘Stages of Meditation’

Monday Feb 26 19.30 through Thursday March 1 17.00 3-day retreat € 295/265‘The Four Immeasurable Catalysts of Being’

Monday Feb 26 19.30-21.00 opening lecture of retreat

Public Dharma talk ‘Bodhicitta: Precious Mind of Enlightenment’

Tuesday Feb 27 19.30-21.00 Public Dharma talk ‘Dharma in the East and West’

Saturday March 3 10.00-16.00 1-day retreat ‘Medicine Buddha’ € 95/75registration: nyingmacentrum@nyingma.nl

Lama Palzang in AmsterdamFebruary 25 - March 3 2018

Retreat ‘Stages of Meditation ‘Retreat ‘Four Immeasurables’

Retreat ‘Medicine Buddha’2 Dharma talks

Nyingma Centrum NederlandReguliersgracht 25 Amsterdam tel.020 6205207 www.nyingma.nl

Sunday February 25 Stages of Meditation: Shamatha and InsightDrawing from his background and training in Nyingma studies and practices in Tibet, LamaPalzang highlights techniques for stabilizing and deepening meditation and traditional context for understanding the purpose of spiritual practice.Zhi-gnas (shamatha) allows the mind to become calm, continuous and one-pointed. It is the foundation for Lha-Tong (vipassana, often translated as insight), which through direct analysis of the constituents of experi-ence, can cut through the root of disturbing emotions by virtue of discerning the true nature of phenomena, which is unfixed and empty. Without the stability of Zhi-gnas, it would be like trying to use the telescope of Lha-Tong on a boat in turbulent water. This workshop is based on the Bhavanakrama, or Stages of Meditation, a fundamental Tibetan Buddhist text for studying and practicing Lha-Tong and Zhi-gnas, composed by Kamalashila, an 8th century master and student of Shantarakshita.

Saturday March 3 Medicine Buddha It is said that simply hearing the Medicine Buddha’s name and his mantra brings forth powerful blessings for the healing of body and mind. Medicine Buddha practice is for healing and releasing all kinds of accumula-ted negativity or impurities, including trauma and long-term illnesses. It also works on a subtle level to help cleanse and purify layers of imbalanced emotionality and confusion, removing all sickness, obstacles, traces of negative actions, and obscurations.

By practicing and chanting together as a group, we support each other and streng-then the power of our practice. The blessings of this practice can be directed towards yourself; loved ones such as family, friends, or pets; and all beings in need of healing.

The Medicine Buddha workshop is a one-day retreat held under the guidance of Lama Palzang. You will receive instructions for and engage in practice sessions with mantra and visualizations of the Medicine Buddha. This retreat is approximately ¼ instruction and ¾ practice, and includes some relaxation practices to help the body and mind settle, while consisting mainly of chanting and visualization.

Monday February 26 - Thursday March 1 The Four Immeasurable Catalysts of Being: Love, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity

This retreat is about releasing the artificial boundaries that appear to separate us from one another and from our true nature. We will cultivate equanimity, love, compas-sion, and joyfulness in ways that catalyze our ability to penetrate illusions and activate an unending stream of benefit. These qualities can become the very substance of who we are and how we interact with other living beings. This classic Buddhist meditation has great benefits for practitioners, and can lead to profound states of awareness and under-standing. It is a central practice for deve-loping good will toward all beings without exception. At first the Four Immeasurables are “measurable” in that we begin our practice with reference to our life experiences with other people, choosing specific persons as objects for our practice. As the practice ma-tures, we expand the range more and more. Ultimately the emotions become pure, deeply felt and yet not directed toward any specific object.

Longchenpa introduces the four immeasurables in this way:

“Thus someone who, by taking refuge, has become a site for spiritual growth,

Will cultivate their mind for the welfare of sentient beings,

By letting the flower of compassion blossom in the soil of love,

And tending it with the pure water of equanimity in the cool shade of joy.

“As long as these four are not linked to the road to liberation,

They are but euphoric states and remain the cause of fictitious being.

But if the way to inner peace has taken hold of them,They are the four immeasurably great properties

of real being, becausethey make us cross the ocean of fictitious being.”