Ongoing at Dorje Ling

Sunday mornings, 11:00-12:15: Ngöndro Practice (DL center and online)

Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30: Book Study (online only)

Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30: Meditation Class (DL center only)

In Our Greater Community

Saturday July 12th, 11:00-5:00: Portland Buddhist Festival (Dharma Rain Zen Center)

Saturday July 26th, 10:00-12:00: TLC Transitional Life Care: Animal Chaplaincy, Compassion & Care with Sarah Beasley (online) Event Page

Empowerments are not just formal rituals, they are transmissions that connect us directly to the wisdom and blessings of enlightened beings. Receiving an empowerment grants permission to engage in specific practices and establishes a spiritual link between the student, the teacher, and the deity. It plants the seed of awakening in recipients and provides the lineage support needed to benefit from Buddhist practices.

Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche is a highly qualified Dzogchen master in the Nyingma tradition. He was made a Khenpo by Dudjom Rinpoche himself and is a lineage holder of the Dudjom Tersar terma lineage. Holding a wealth of traditional Buddhist knowledge, he is also beloved by many students for his compassionate and humorous understanding of Westerners. With his brother, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, he founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center in New York, where he currently serves as spiritual director.

Together the three empowerments offered form a complete gateway to the Vajrayana path: Guru Rinpoche as the pathblazer, destroyer of obstacles; Vajrasattva as the purifier, who introduces a fresh, luminous foundation for meditation; and Yeshe Tsogyal as the embodiment of wisdom. Receiving these blessings from an authentic lama such as Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche is a rare and precious opportunity.

Tashi Choling's annual Vajrasattva retreat was attended by several Dorje Ling members both at Tashi Choling and online. At Tashi Choling, the temple was full of attendees with some Dorje Ling members learning the ritual aspects of the retreat.

Many devotees in different parts of the country attended remotely, including both Carolyn Myers and Diane Taudvin. It’s such a blessing that this is possible in this modern age of ours, is it not?! They shared these reflections: 

Tashi Choling in Ashland, Oregon

Ven. Lingtrul Rinpoche ringing the bell for attendees to start practice

From Carolyn Myers ~

This year, because of a small surgery, I had to attend the DorSem Retreat on Zoom.  Usually I am at Tashi Choling, in the midst of it all, present with the Sangha and volunteering with work assignments at every break.  Instead, I was at Dorje Ling, with just one other practitioner, following on Zoom.  At first, I was bereft and grumpy.  I missed everyone so much, and I didn’t feel well.  But I soon got into the practice on a deeply personal level. With more time to reflect and move slowly during the breaks, I truly experienced the purification practice as support for my physical healing. By the time it ended, my heart was filled with gratitude, and my physical body was well on the way to recovery.   

From Diane Taudvin ~

As Carolyn says, it is hard not to be at the temple in person, but the zoom experience is also very wonderful. I have done several of our 10-day practices on Zoom in recent years.  I find it easier on my old body without all the running around. My home is peaceful and conducive to practice, so the experience is very meaningful. I was taken by a reminder we all received from Sangye Khandro toward the end of the retreat.  The gist of it was to always remember how fortunate we are to have connected with the precious dharma and our precious gurus. We should practice with joy and not succumb to feeling down on ourselves for not having achieved “more” in our practice.  Let’s be happy, grateful, and diligent practitioners.  That is the best offering to our guru.

Dallen Esselstrom learning to the play the drum

Troma Nagmo Red Feast of Pure Vision, Hosted by Dorje Ling

Friday, July 18

7:00-8:15pm

Anyone is invited to attend if they are interested in exploring the Chod (cutting through) traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism. Troma Nagmo is a wrathful female manifestation of wisdom, whose practices are designed to cut through ego, attachment, and dualistic thinking. 

Please bring instruments and texts if you have them. We will have some available.

Meditation Classes

Wednesdays 7:00-8:30pm

(in person only)

We explore a variety of meditation techniques. Open to everyone and drop-ins are encouraged.

Ngöndro Practices

Sundays 11:00-12:30pm

(in person and online)

A preliminary practice that is the foundation for students of Vajrayana Buddhism. Open to everyone.

Lunar Day Practices or Pujas

4:00-6:30 pm

See Upcoming Events for dates

(in person, some offered online)

These practices are intended for the sangha (our Buddhist community) to come together and make offerings.

Open to everyone.

Saturday, July 26

10:00am – 12:00pm

online

Incorporating Buddhist principles, Sarah Beasley will provide practical advice about mindfully supporting pets, honoring animals, and providing spiritual care for them in times of birth, old age, sickness, and death. Her talk will include an exploration of ethics and an examination of the interconnection between humans and animals, both wild and domesticated. Explanations for practices to accompany the dying and death process for pets will be provided as we open the conversation about compassionate animal guardianship.