The Tergar Meditation Community, founded by the revered Dharma teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, has announced a “Worldwide Community Day of Meditation and Celebration” on 20 November to mark the birthday of Mingyur Rinpoche.
“We are delighted to invite you to a special one-hour community event in honor of Mingyur Rinpoche’s birthday on Wednesday, 20 November,” Tergar said in a message shared with BDG. “This celebration will be broadcast live on YouTube, bringing together students from around the world.”
The occasion will be co-hosted by Eliza Cheung from Tergar Asia and Cortland Dahl from Tergar International, who will share more information about the Tergar Mandala for practitioners around the world.
“During the event, we will hear Rinpoche’s heartfelt aspirations for the coming year, offering inspiration for our individual and collective practice,” Tergar noted.
“We are also excited to introduce Tulku Tashi, a recognized tulku and lopon in Mingyur Rinpoche’s lineage from Osel Ling Monastery in Kathmandu, currently studying in Madison, Wisconsin. Tulku Tashi will lead us in meditation.”
Born in Nepal’s Nubri Valley, like Mingyur Rinpoche, Tulku Tashi moved to Kathmandu at the age of three. His family then traveled to India, to Sherab Ling Monastery and Tso Pema, where Mingyur Rinpoche’s grandfather, Lama Tashi Dorje, recognized young Tashi as the reincarnation of his cousin Lama Rigzin Namgyal. At age seven, Tulku Tashi entered Osel Ling Monastery in Kathmandu, undergoing 21 years of training in Buddhist philosophy and monastic studies. He is now studying the Abhidharma and modern psychology while working toward a master’s degree in Family Psychology at Edgewood College.
“This will be followed by a live performance from the Tergar Institute at Osel Ling Monastery in Kathmandu with Sonam Dhonyoe, Joanie Bones, and the Buddha Band. They will be singing ‘An Aspiration for the World,’ a practice that embodies our shared wish for there to be peace and well-being in all corners of the globe.”
This event is free and open to all. No registration is required. It will be live-streamed at the following times:
Auckland: 3am, Thursday, 21 November
Canberra: 1am, Thursday, 21 November
Seoul, Tokyo: 11pm, Wednesday, 20 November
Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei: 10pm, Wednesday, 20 November
Bangkok, Jakarta: 9pm, Wednesday, 20 November
New Delhi: 7:30pm, Wednesday, 20 November
Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm: 3pm, Wednesday, 20 November
London: 2pm, Wednesday, 20 November
Montreal, New York: 9am, Wednesday, 20 November
Los Angeles, Vancouver: 6am, Wednesday, 20 November
Click here for full details of this event
Mingyur Rinpoche, the founder of the Tergar Meditation Community, which has centers and practice groups across the world, is a renowned teacher and best-selling author whose books include: The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret & Science of Happiness (2007); Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom (2009); and Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism (2014).
Born in 1975 in the Himalayan border region between Tibet and Nepal, Mingyur Rinpoche received extensive training in Tibetan Buddhist meditative and philosophical traditions from his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920–96), considered one of the greatest modern Dzogchen masters, and subsequently at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India. After just two years, at the age of 13, Mingyur Rinpoche entered a three-year meditation retreat and then completed a second immediately afterward, serving as retreat master. At 23, Rinpoche received full monastic ordination.
Mingyur Rinpoche famously undertook a four-year solitary wandering retreat through the Himalaya in 2011–15. In recounting how he came to terms with the realities of his ambition to practice in the manner of a wandering yogi, Rinpoche revealed that he confronted many personal and spiritual challenges—including, at one point, his own mortality. Rinpoche has described the years he spent wandering in the Himalaya as “one of the best periods of my life.”*
Meditation is actually a very simple exercise in resting in the natural state of your present mind, and allowing yourself to be simply and clearly present to whatever thoughts, sensations, or emotions occur. — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
* Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Returns from Four-year Wilderness Retreat (BDG) and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Releases Video Offering Insights Following His Retreat (BDG)
References
Mingyur, Yongey. 2007. The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness. New York City: Harmony.
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