Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi, an American Buddist nun, will return to Mount Shasta for a weekend teaching retreat Friday, May 21st through Sunday, May 23rd. Tenzin Chogkyi’s teaching style is very accessible for the beginning or advancing practitioner. Her western upbringing and integration of the eastern sacred Tibetan teachings, give her the tools to assist retreat participants in discovering their own truth. Mount Shasta Friends of Tibetan Culture is hosting the event.

Friday Evening (May21)- Public Talk for the Community
On Friday evening at 6:30, a public talk will be held on “The Essential Truths of the Buddha”. This talk will be based upon The Four Noble Truths, the first teaching the Buddha gave after his enlightenment, addressing such fundamental questions as why we put so much energy into chasing after happiness, only to be repeatedly disappointed. She will also discuss how true happiness and freedom can only be achieved by transforming our minds. The Public Talk will be presented at the Shasta Yoga Center, 201 N. Mt. Shasta Blvd in Mount Shasta. The suggested offering for this talk is $10.

Saturday and Sunday (May 22 - 23) – Buddhist Retreat Teachings
On Saturday and Sunday, the teaching topic is “Open Your Heart, Free Your Mind.” The schedule includes three sessions per day to be held at 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., and 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. During the retreat, she will offer teachings and guided meditations on compassion (Bodhicitta), by focusing on practices that reconnect us with our naturally present loving-kindness. A lunch of soup and bread will be offered to retreat participants at noon. The 2-day teaching retreat will be conducted in the front residence at 1520 Shasta Acres Road (1.4 miles up McCloud Ave. from Bank of America.). Participants are asked to park on the right (east) side of the street. Participants are invited to attend the full retreat (suggested donation is $75 for both days) or individual sessions (suggested donation is $15 per session). Individuals with financial needs may call 530-859-2782 to make arrangements for exchange of service offerings prior to the event.

More about Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi
The Ven Tenzin Chogkyi became interested in meditation in the early 1970’s. After several false starts and dead ends, she bought a one-way ticket to India in 1991, with the hope of meeting the Dalai Lama. There she became a student of His Holiness, as well as of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, while studying at Tushita Meditation Center in Dharamsala and Kopan Monastery. Later, Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked her to return to the U.S. and become the co-director of Vajrapani Institute in California. In 1995, she started working at the Foundation of the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) International Office, first as co-director and later as center services coordinator. In early 2000, she began a long, solitary retreat that lasted 6½ years. In the third year of her retreat, she received novice ordination by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in India. After she emerged from her retreat in 2006, she moved to Land of Medicine Buddha in California. In addition to teaching there, she began teaching in prisons, providing spiritual support for hospice patients, and facilitating a support group for women with chronic illness. Since the summer of 2008 has been teaching at FPMT centers worldwide and is part-time at Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek, California. To learn more about Tenzin Chogkyi, please check out her blog at tenzinchogkyi.blogspot.com.

Contact Information
For more information, please see www.MountShastaFriendsOfTibetanCulture.org or call Lisa at 530-859-2782. If attending from out of town, accommodations and other visitor information may be found at www.mtshastachamber.com/visitor/accommodations.