THE PROGRAM

Special Announcement
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will now only be teaching the Gesar of Ling from 4:30pm to 6pm on both Monday and Tuesday afternoon. We are pleased to announce an audio course by the founder of the Buddhist Summer School, Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX’s teachings on Transforming the Mind – discussion and facilitation of this course will be led by Traleg Rinpoche’s wife Traleg Khandro. See details for this course below!

Download a PDF of the Program Here

OPENING FORUM
Impromptu topic to be announced.

Saturday morning – 9.30am-11.00am – Lecture Hall 1 and online.

The Opening Forum is an opportunity to hear the Buddhist Summer School speakers
engage in discussion of the relevance and application of Buddhism to one of life’s big
questions. There will be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions. Includes
both in-person and online speakers. The forum is free and open to all.

OUR ESTEEMED SPEAKERS

THE FOUR HARMONIOUS FRIENDS (COURSE ONE)
(In-Person at Maitripa Centre and Online)

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

Saturday Morning and Sunday Morning
Lecture Hall 1 (3 Units)

“Buddha said that harmony is very, very important… If people are in harmony, then whatever they pray for will be accomplished. Whatever they aspire to will be easily accomplished. And all the positivity they do will be multiplied a million times… if you have harmony, even among a small group of people, that will create circumstances that there will be peace, that there will be prosperity and that there will be auspicious things happening in the whole country.”— Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

Join Ringu Tulku Rinpoche as Rinpoche tells the ancient Jataka Tale of The Four Harmonious Friends: the story of a bird, hare, monkey, and elephant who cooperate despite their differences, illustrating the values of unity, respect, and mutual support. Through this and other teachings, Rinpoche will explore how harmony, personally and among small groups, can lead to peace, prosperity, and auspicious outcomes for entire societies.

GESAR OF LING (COURSE TWO)
(In-Person at Maitripa Centre and Online)

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

Monday Afternoon and Tuesday Afternoon
Lecture Hall 1 (2 Units)

Gesar of Ling is the great 11th-century epic hero of Tibetan, Central Asian, and Himalayan cultures, who overcomes obstacles to and enemies of the Buddhist teachings. As a spiritual force, Gesar is a great Drala, a powerful elemental deity, “a natural force operating in the phenomenal world, and an aspect of our own pure awareness.” In the Buddhist tradition, Gesar is an emanation of the great Tantric master Guru Rinpoche. During these perilous and challenging times, the supplication and practice of Gesar is a source of bravery, fearlessness, compassion, and a dispeller of negative forces. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is from the homeland of Gesar in Tibet and holds both spiritual and kinship connections to Gesar. In this course, Rinpoche will teach on Gesar’s life, culture, and these as a practice. 

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist Master of the Kagyu Order. He was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism under many great masters such as HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He took his formal education at Namgyal of Tibetology, Gangtok and Sampurnananda Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India. Rinpoche has served as Professor of Tibetology in Sikkim for 17 years. His doctoral thesis was on the Ecumenical Movement in Tibet.

Since 1990, he has been traveling and teaching Buddhism and meditation at more than 50 universities, institutes and Buddhist Centres in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, and Asia. He also participates in various interfaith dialogues. He authored several books on Buddhism as well as some children’s books both in Tibetan and European languages. He founded Bodhicharya (www.bodhicharya.org ), an international organization that coordinates the worldwide activities to preserve and transmit Buddhist teachings, to promote inter-cultural dialogues and educational & social projects. He also founded Rigul Trust which supports his projects in his birthplace, Rigul, Tibet (www.rigultrust.org). Rinpoche is the Official Representative of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa for Europe and the Founder of Karmapa Foundation Europe (www.karmapafoundation.eu).

ZEN AND THE ART OF NON-DUALITY
(In-Person and Online)

Dr Leesa Davis

Saturday Morning and Sunday Morning
Lecture Hall 2 (3 Units)

In Mahayana Buddhism nonduality is equated with The Middle Way itself. The claims that “the condition of existence is not of mutually exclusive character” and that “all things are not two” are at the heart of Zen Buddhist teaching strategies and central to understanding the philosophical underpinnings of Zen Buddhist thought. However, nonduality is not just the negation of dualistic thinking; in teaching and practice settings, a nondual experience also involves both an understanding of the non-difference of subject and object and an experience of the non-plurality of the world.

In an interactive workshop format, these three units will explore the connection between Zen practice and Zen philosophy by linking these understandings of nonduality to the core Buddhist philosophical mainstays of impermanence, dependent co-origination, and emptiness. Focusing on classical and contemporary dialogues between teachers and students, we will attempt to enter into the world of the questioning student and identify the philosophical and experiential “surprises” that challenges to everyday dualistic assumptions provoke.  “Surprises” that could be conceived as glimpses of “seeing things as they are”. Each session will begin with outlining a nondual teaching or dialogue. We will then identify key philosophical tenets that are embedded in the teaching and consider the experiential impact on the questioning student. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions.

Leesa S Davis is a lecturer in philosophy and religious studies at Deakin University. She is the author of Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism: Deconstructive modes of spiritual inquiry and has written on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, meditative experience, Buddhist ethics, and Buddhism in Australia. Her current research is on the use of paradox in Zen Buddhism; Japanese Dry-Stone Gardens and Zen; and the interaction of tradition and modernity in the work of Bob Dylan.

ON THE GREAT WISDOM THAT IS BEYOND DISCRIMINATORY THOUGHT (MAKAHANNYA-HARAMITSU)
(In-Person and Online)

Ekai Korematsu Roshi

Saturday Afternoon and Sunday Afternoon
Lecture Hall 2 (4 Units)

In the second chapter of Shobogenzo, “On the Great Wisdom That Is Beyond Discriminatory Thought” (Makahannya-haramitsu), Zen master Dōgen presents profound teachings to his monks at Kannondōri monastery. Rooted in the Heart Sutra (Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra) and the Larger Sutra on Spiritual Wisdom, and complemented by a poem from Chinese Master Tendō Nyojō, Roshi’s talk explores Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva’s insight into the emptiness of the five skandhas—form, perceptions, conceptions, volition, and consciousness. Zen Master Dōgen highlights that true wisdom transcends dualistic thinking, revealing the interconnectedness of all phenomena. Ultimately, the talk suggests that all aspects of life and spiritual practice are manifestations of this great wisdom, indicating that the path to enlightenment is embedded in every moment of our lives.

Ekai Roshi has been the Abbot and Teacher of the Jikishoan Zen Buddhist Community in Melbourne since 1999. Born in Japan in 1948, his Buddhist education and training is from Zen tradition. Roshi was ordained by Kobun Chino Roshi at Haiku Zendo in Los Altos, California, in 1976. He received Dharma transmission from Ikko Narasaki Roshi at Zuioji Monastery in Japan in 1986. His formal training spanned twelve years in three Zen monasteries: Eiheiji, Zuioji, and Shogoji, rooted in Soto Zen Buddhism. In addition to his role at Jikishoan, Ekai Roshi has taught at the annual Buddhist Summer School and the Winter Zen Lecture since 1999, at the invitation of Traleg Kyabgon IX. He has also taught Buddhism in the USA, Japan, India, and New Zealand for over 40 years.

METTĀ: LOVING-KINDNESS MEDITATION
(In-Person and Online)

Bhante Buddhavihāri

Saturday Afternoon
Lecture Hall 1 (2 Units)

Course Description:

1. What is the feeling of Mettā?
2. What is the opposite quality of Mettā? (It is Anger.)
3. The disadvantages of Anger.
4. The importance of overcoming Anger.
5. How does Mettā support the process of overcoming Anger?
6. Guidance on Mettā meditation for beginners.
7. Levels of Mettā meditation and methods for practice
8. 11 benefits of Mettā meditation
   

Bhante Buddhavihāri was born in Devanagala, Sri Lanka. He took novice ordination at Na Uyana Forest Monastery in 2005, and higher ordination in 2006, with Most Venerable Māwathagama Guṇānanda Mahāthera as preceptor. After higher ordination, he practised meditation at Na Uyana for several years and then went to a nearby forest monastery to study Vinaya (the monastic disciplinary rules) and Pāli (the language of the Theravada Buddhist scriptures). After finishing his studies, he moved to Pa Auk Main Centre, Mawlamyaine, and practised meditation under the guidance of various certified meditation instructors. Upon returning to Sri Lanka, he was invited to establish a new Na Uyana branch in the town of Pelmadulla, Ratnapura District. Along with one other monk, he spent more than three years building up the centre from an empty plot of rainforest to its present status of a functioning forest monastery.  Over the years, he has travelled to various countries to spread the Dhamma, including the United States, Indonesia, and Malaysia. At present, he resides at Dhamsuwa Meditation Centre on the outskirts of Melbourne.

BREATHING MEDITATION AND SUPPORTIVE FACTORS (ĀNĀPĀNASATI AND CHATURĀRAKKHA)
(In-Person and Online)

Bhante Pasadika

Sunday Afternoon
Lecture Hall 1 (2 Units)

In this course, Venerable Pasadika will explore the essential elements required to deepen Buddhist meditation and ethical living with reference to Breathing Meditation and Supportive Factors. The course covers the role of breathing meditation with its two supportive aspects: meditation methods and insight—illustrating how each of these supports the development of wisdom and compassion. Through reflections on the teachings and practical examples, students are guided on how these practices serve to develop meditation, encourage moral integrity, and help overcome everyday challenges, ultimately leading toward the path of liberation.

Bhante Pasadika is a well-known Theravāda Buddhist monk, well educated, completing studies under Na Uyana Forest monastery amongst other forest monasteries in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar. Thero has a Master’s degree in Buddhism and Research, and after completing his education and training, Bhante began teaching Buddhist education and meditation from 2012. As a meditation teacher, he has traveled extensively teaching Dhamma and meditation practices to various groups in multiple countries including Europe (Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany), Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, India, Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia), and Australia (since 2016). He is multilingual and is fluent in several languages including Sinhala, English, and Hindi.

At present, he is the Chief Spiritual Adviser at Dhamsuwa Meditation Centre in Melbourne. Bhante also leads the meditation circles in France, the Netherlands, and Sri Lanka. Thero’s meditation experience goes back several years, and in teaching, he follows the conceptual strategies of Samatha Vipassana based on Theravada.

Bhante Pasādika is not only familiar to those who live in Melbourne but is highly respected by his wider audience in other states of Australia and in several countries (Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore) for his long-term association with them as an adviser and a spiritual leader due to his widely encompassing knowledge of Dhamma and meditation techniques and for his fluency in English-medium programs.

RAISING WINDHORSE: DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE AND DIGNITY
(Streaming Live to Maitripa Centre and Online)

Sam Bercholz

Monday Morning
Lecture Hall 1 (2 Units)

Windhorse is the energy of basic goodness. This self-existing energy is called ‘wind horse’ in the Shambhala teachings. The ‘wind’ principle is that the energy of basic goodness is strong and exuberant and brilliant. It can actually radiate tremendous power in your life. But at the same time, basic goodness can be ridden, which is the principle of the horse. By following the disciplines of warriorship, particularly the discipline of letting go, you can harness the wind of goodness. In some sense the horse is never tamed—basic goodness never becomes your personal possession. But you can invoke and provoke the energy of basic goodness in your life…” – Chogyam Trungpa, Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior
Streaming live to Maitripa and Online.

HOW TO BE A DHARMIC PERSON
(Streaming Live to Maitripa Centre and Online)

Tuesday Morning
Lecture Hall 1 (2 Units)

For a dharmic person, good conduct is a sense of mindfulness and awareness: whatever you are doing, you should try to see it as an extension of your meditation practice, your general sense of awareness, and refraining from too much, unnecessary activity…. You could look at yourself and smile. You could be awake and aware.  We will explore the various skillful means of bringing dharma practice into our everyday activities.

Sam founded Shambhala Publications in 1969. He has been a Buddhist practitioner since the age of 19 and was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest in the Chogye Zen Order of Korea. He met Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1970 and was a close student of his for 17 years. Trungpa Rinpoche empowered him to teach meditation, Buddhadharma including Vajrayana, and the Shambhala teachings. After Trungpa Rinpoche’s passing, he auspiciously became a disciple of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. He received the teachings and empowerments of the Nyingma, particularly the Dudjom Tersar and was empowered to transmit what he had learned. He was invited by Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche to teach what he had learned from his masters, and has been doing so for over two decades at the various Kagyu Evam Institute Centers in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. He is the author of A Guided Tour of Hell and co-editor of the international bestseller The Buddha and His Teachings (originally published as Entering the Stream).

TRALEG KYABGON RINPOCHE IX’S TEACHINGS ON TRANSFORMING THE MIND
(In-Person and Online)

Traleg Khandro

Monday Afternoon and Tuesday Afternoon
Lecture Hall 1 (2 Units)

These audio teachings by Buddhist Summer School Founder Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX  explore the fundamental principles of Buddhist spiritual practice which provide an integral approach to meditation and self transformation. Led by Traleg Khandro, Khandro-la will provide meaningful  opportunity to discuss and explore these teachings and their application in our lives. 

About the teachings: 

Talk 1 explores

• How the Buddhist approach includes a willingness to work with conflicting emotions or undesirable negative aspects of ourselves.
• The importance of bodily awareness and reinstating or rehabilitating the body as part of our spiritual practice; that it is not all about the mind.
• The importance of paying attention to our thoughts so that we can become more aware of how we construct the world that we live in.

Talk 2 explores

• How Buddhism is a non-dualistic approach and seeks to overcome dualities via an integrated approach.
• How to approach emotions. We can learn to be more skilful in our emotional expression through paying attention.
• An explanation of the benefits of employing the “5 powers” of: 1) Conviction and friendliness,  2) Vigour (enthusiasm), 3) Mindfulness, 4) Concentration (non-distraction) Insight (Wisdom).
• A Philosophical understanding of the Buddhist notion of non-duality in relation to form and formlessness, conditioned and unconditioned: the Prajnaparamita.

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX (1955-2012) was born in Nangchen in Kham, eastern Tibet. He was recognised by His Holiness XVI Gyalwang Karmapa as the ninth Traleg tulku and enthroned at the age of two as the supreme abbot of Thrangu Monastery. He studied with a number of eminent teachers throughout his life, in particular within the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. He came to Australia in the early 80s, completing an honors degree in western philosophy while also developing a high level of mastery over the English language. Rinpoche established Centers in Australia, America and New Zealand and gave extensive teachings on many aspects of Buddhist psychology and philosophy throughout the world. Traleg Rinpoche is the founder of the Buddhist Summer School. 

Traleg Khandro, long-time student and wife to the late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX, is a Director at E-Vam Institute in Melbourne and the U.S, and runs Shogam Publications, Traleg Rinpoche’s publishing arm. Khandro studied Buddhism under Traleg Rinpoche’s guidance for many years and has undertaken numerous long meditation retreats. Khandro has given commentary of Rinpoche’s teachings in Australia, America, Europe, U.K., and South East Asia. At Rinpoche’s request Khandro also received traditional LuJong (Tibetan Yoga) training after qualifying as a Hatha Yoga instructor. Khandro has a degree in Psychology.

ACTUALIZING TIBETAN BUDDHISM IN THE WEST…AND IN OUR LIVES.
(In-Person and Online)

Dr Kathleen Gregory

Monday Morning and Tuesday Morning
Lecture Hall 2 (4 Units)

It can be said that central to the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the West over the last fifty years, has been the conviction that Buddhism could both be authentically practiced in the West and by those new to Buddhism. Bringing together research for an upcoming academic book chapter on this process of transmission of Tibetan Buddhism and what are known as the spiritual faculties of the Five Strengths or Powers (conviction, vigor, mindfulness, concentration, and insight), we will explore the significance of this conviction in our own lives for sustaining our sense of ourselves as practitioners on the Path.

Kathleen Gregory PhD has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism for thirty years and studied under Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX. She is a psychologist in private practice and regularly teaches on Buddhism and psychotherapy at E-Vam Institute. She has extensive teaching experience in graduate counselling programs in both Australia and the USA. She currently teaches in the School of Education at RMIT University and served as Dean of the Graduate School of Counseling and Psychology at Naropa University in Boulder Colorado (2017-2019). She is published in Buddhism in the West, including in relation to the modern mindfulness movement, and in the field of psychotherapy related to ethics, narrative therapy, and working with race and diversity.

ZEN MIND, BEGINNER’S MIND
An Introduction to Zen Meditation
(In-Person and Online)

Teishin Shona Innes

Monday Afternoon and Tuesday Afternoon
Lecture Hall 2 (4 Units)

In these sessions, the three forms of Zen meditation – bowing, sitting and walking – will be introduced and practiced.  The practice will be supported by readings from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (Shunryu Suzuki Roshi) and from a talk by Ekai Roshi on the Buddha’s “First Night Watch”.

Teishin Shona has been a student of Ekai Korematsu Roshi, Abbot of Tokozan Jikishoan, for the past 21 years. Before that, she practiced for 9 years under the guidance of the Venerable Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche. Teishin has completed 15 years in Jikishoan’s Integrated Buddhist Studies (IBS) program and has served as the coordinator of Main Course B (Community Practice) for ten years. In 2013, Teishin completed Jikishoan’s Head Student training and received Bodhisattva Initiation (Lay Ordination) in 2014. On April 11, 2023, she received novice monastic ordination (Bodhisattva precepts) from Seido Suzuki Roshi, Abbot of Toshoji, in Japan. In 2024, she completed her novice monastic training at Toshoji, where she led a 3-month practice period as Head monk (Shuso). She is currently continuing her training with Ekai Roshi and Jikishoan as an Assistant Teacher.

Download a PDF of the Program Here

THE PROGRAM TIMETABLE

THE VENUE

MAITRIPA CONTEMPLATIVE CENTRE

Come and enjoy the Summer School experience at the beautiful Maitripa Contemplative Centre. Established by Traleg Rinpoche IX, Maitripa Contemplative Centre is surrounded by the beautiful lush Toolangi forest amongst the upper Yarra Valley, amongst beautiful diverse and established gardens, vibrant birdlife and the hundreds of acres of surrounding mountain ash forests.

Maitripa Contemplative Centre is 5 minutes from Healesville Town and just 75 minutes from Melbourne CBD.

Catering

Delicious and healthy vegetarian food will included when you purchase accommodation. For those not staying overnight, you will have to opportunity to purchase food tickets OR you can purchase light refreshments (cakes and coffee) at Dogen’s cafe during the day. Apsara bar is open in the evening for you to relax with a glass of wine. All amidst a conducive environment of like-minded people, coming together to learn from the profound resource of practice and wisdom that the traditions of Buddhism have to offer.

OR…

ONLINE VIA ZOOM- FROM HOME!

The Buddhist Summer School offers an interactive online experience, with the ability to ask Teachers questions.

Online participants are very welcome and can enjoy the Buddhist Summer School from the comfort of their own homes!