Instructions on Shamatha Meditation

by Ven. Khenpo Choephel

Saturday and Sunday, February 11-12, 2017 10am-12pm, 1:30-4:30pm

The practice of Shamatha Meditation benefits one’s life through the cultivation of inner peace and a clear view of our world.  It can reduce stress and provide relief from depression and afflictions.  It is the foundation for mindfulness training and the development of mental tranquility and wisdom.

Ven. Khenpo Choephel has said:  Shamatha meditation is an important practice that can lead to perfect ultimate enlightenment wisdom, which is the all-knowing wisdom of Buddha.  Khenpo will guide us on the various aspects of Shamatha meditation, from how to hold one’s physical posture to the adoption of the right motivation.

Shamatha Meditation flyer

All are welcome to join us at Three Rivers Tibetan Cultural Center.

TRTCC is located at: 7313 Florence Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15218

Tibetan New Year LOSAR Celebration

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Sunday, February 26th, 10am – 12pm

Our Tibetan New Year celebration will start with a ceremony of opening prayers and 37 heaps Mandala offering.  We invite you to join us for a sampling of delicious and auspicious new year food CHEMAR and DROMA DRECI, to welcome the new year.  A smoke offering will be conducted outside the house for the cleansing of our environment and a blessing for all beings.

Venerable Khenpo Choephel will bestow Vajra Protection, a traditional new year day ritual, as a blessing to help remove obstacles.

All are welcome.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year.

Our 2017 Sunday practice time has been changed.  It is now 10am to 11:30am

Mind Training and Chöd Practice by visiting teacher Ven. Lama Sonam

Saturday and Sunday, December 17-18, 2016 10am-12pm, 2-5:00pm

Saturday,  Mind-Training with loving kindness, compassion and Bodhicitta.

Sunday, Chöd practice, as a way to cut through attachment to one’s own body, self-cherishing, and self-grasping.

Ven. Lama Sonam is currently the Spiritual Director of Drigung Meditation center in Arlington, MA. Originally from Drigung Katsal monastery, Tibet, Lama Sonam has been trained since young age in the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and has practiced and done retreats in monasteries in Tibet and India.

All are welcome to join us at Three Rivers Tibetan Cultural Center.

Donations to support our center are important to help sustain TRTCC’s many teaching and cultural activities. Please give a donation in an amount that you can give. No one will be turned away for the lack of funds

More information about the teachings will be coming soon.

TRTCC is  located at: 7313 Florence Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15218

Celebration of the Buddha’s Descent to this world and Auspicious Prayer and Mantra Recitation

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sunday at TRTCC
11am-1pm,  2:30-5:00pm

Sunday, November 20^th is a special auspicious day in the Tibetan calendar celebrating Buddha Shakyamuni’s descent from the Tusita Heaven to this world sharing the precious dharma.

Our spiritual director Venerable Khenpo Choephel will offer an empowerment of Buddha Shakyamuni’s blessings as a celebration and practice.

Sunday, November 20^th is also the birthday of H.H. Drigung Kyabgon Chungtsang Choe Kyi Nangwa , head of the Drigung Kagyu Lineage.  There will be auspicious prayer and mantra recitation and special merit-gathering activities.

All are welcome.

Donations to support our center are important to help sustain TRTCC’s many teaching and cultural activities. Please give a donation in an amount that you can give. No one will be turned away for the lack of funds

To download a flyer for this event please click Auspicious Event Celebration flyer

VAJRASATTVA Empowerment

Wednesday, October 12, 2016, at TRTCC

Wednesday, Oct 12, 2016
7pm-9pm

VAJRASATTVA (Dorje Sempa in Tibetan) is viewed as the one single deity that embodies all of the hundred wisdom-deity families of Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism.  It is also an indispensable and powerful practice for purification of mental obscurations, cleansing of physical environment and the development of great wisdom.

On this coming Wednesday, October 12, our spiritual director Venerable Khenpo Choephel will bestow the empowerment of Vajrasattva practice to our sangha members who would like to learn about or renew this essential deity practice, and the special Vajrasattva hundred-syllable mantra, which is recited in all special teachings as a ritual for purification.

We invite you to participate in this special empowerment ceremony for the benefit of one and all.  All are welcome.

Donations to support our center are important to help sustain our many teachings and cultural activities.  Suggested donation for the empowerment is $10 or any amount you can give.  We thank you for all your supports and the many ways that you have helped with TRTCC’s dharma teaching programs and the preservation of Tibetan cultural treasures. No one will be turned away for the lack of funds.

To download a flyer for this event please click Vajrasattva Empowerment flyer

Nyung Ney Retreat

Sunday, October 16, 2016, at TRTCC

Sunday, Oct 16, 2016
10am-12pm
1:30-5pm

NYUNG NEI is a silent retreat with a fasting ritual focusing on loving-kindness, compassion and Bodhicitta.  Participants of this retreat at Three Rivers Tibetan Cultural Center will observe eight vows for a 24-hour period, practicing meditation, visualization and mantra recitation of the thousand-armed CHENREZIG.

October 16 is a special full moon day.  Our spiritual director Venerable Khenpo Choephel will guide us on all aspects of the Nyung-Nei Retreat from morning to late afternoon.  Participants will continue with the vows and fasting till the 24-hour period is over.  He said that this practice is purposefully designed for lay people and it is very popular in Tibet because it is very beneficial.

We invite you to participate in this special one-day retreat for the benefit of one and all.

Suggested donation for the teaching is $30 for the whole day. No one will be turned away for the lack of funds.

Continuation of A Teaching on Maha Pandita Atisha’s Instructions to his disciples

Saturday and Sunday, August 6 & 7, 2016

Saturday & Sunday at TRTCC
10am-12pm
1:30-4:30pm

Venerable Khenpo Choephel, spiritual director of TRTCC, will continue with the teaching based on the questions and answers between the great Buddhist scholar Atisha    ( AD 982-1054 ) and his disciples. Atisha is the author of  A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment.

August 6, Saturday, is a special day to commemorate the Buddha’s “First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma”. Tibetan Buddhists make pilgrimages to holy places, offer incense, and hang prayer flags to celebrate the Buddha’s teaching of the “Four Noble Truths”.

We invite you to join us on these special days, August 6 & 7 to learn about this precious teaching of Atisha’s for the benefit of one and all.

Suggested donation is $30 for each day and $50 for both days, or give what you can.  No one will be turned away for the lack of funds.

To download a flyer for this event please click August Teaching FLYER , or Atisha Flyer image.