Saturdays with Geshe Ngawang Dakpa
|
Join us as Tse Chen Ling’s longtime resident teacher, Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, shares his wisdom and insight on a series of topics beneficial to our minds and our practice. Geshe-la will choose topics as the series progresses, and they’ll be posted here and announced in our eNews and social media. We’re grateful to have a scholar of Geshe Dakpa’s renown offer these teachings to our community! |
|
Current Topic:
Commentary on the 6th Chapter (Patience) of
A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life
with Geshe Ngawang Dakpa
Saturdays, 2006: February 28, March 21, April 11 and 25
10:00am - 11:30am/12:00pm PT (Please join by 9:45am to ensure prompt start of class)
Via Zoom / Registration required
Ven. Stephen Carlier will provide English interpretation of Geshe Dakota's teaching, and class will be hosted by Stephen Butler.
This class is offered in collaboration with Land of Medicine Buddha.
A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life
with Geshe Ngawang Dakpa
Saturdays, 2006: February 28, March 21, April 11 and 25
10:00am - 11:30am/12:00pm PT (Please join by 9:45am to ensure prompt start of class)
Via Zoom / Registration required
Ven. Stephen Carlier will provide English interpretation of Geshe Dakota's teaching, and class will be hosted by Stephen Butler.
This class is offered in collaboration with Land of Medicine Buddha.
Program Description:
On February 28, 2026, we will continue our ongoing series of teachings with Geshe Ngawang Dakpa. We are happy to share that we will be starting with a new topic!
Geshe-la will give a commentary on the 6th Chapter of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Skt. Bodhicaryāvatāra), composed by the Indian scholar-practitioner Śāntideva (c.685-763). Composed in India in the early 8th century CE, A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life addresses the profound desire to pursue Buddhahood and rescue all sentient beings from suffering.
A text that is consistently praised by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and many great practitioners and scholars of India and Tibet, this text has long been regarded as one of the most definitive and inspiring accounts of the Mahayana Buddhist path. Important as a manual of mind training and cultivating the view, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text has been commented upon by some of the greatest scholars in the Buddhist tradition.
Geshe Dakpa will give commentary on the 6th Chapter of the text, which focuses on the cultivation of patience. The practice and virtue of patience is often regarded as one of the most important, practical, and commonly referenced teachings by the 14th Dalai Lama. It emphasizes learning to manage anger and cultivating the ability to stay calm and steady in the face of difficult or unfavorable situations.
This is a remarkable opportunity for us to learn and grow under the guidance of such an accomplished teacher.
There is no prerequisite to attend these teachings.
The exact number of sessions for this topic will be determined by Geshe-la as we progress through the text.
Recordings of the class will be distributed to registrants within a couple of days after conclusion of each session.
On February 28, 2026, we will continue our ongoing series of teachings with Geshe Ngawang Dakpa. We are happy to share that we will be starting with a new topic!
Geshe-la will give a commentary on the 6th Chapter of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Skt. Bodhicaryāvatāra), composed by the Indian scholar-practitioner Śāntideva (c.685-763). Composed in India in the early 8th century CE, A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life addresses the profound desire to pursue Buddhahood and rescue all sentient beings from suffering.
A text that is consistently praised by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and many great practitioners and scholars of India and Tibet, this text has long been regarded as one of the most definitive and inspiring accounts of the Mahayana Buddhist path. Important as a manual of mind training and cultivating the view, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text has been commented upon by some of the greatest scholars in the Buddhist tradition.
Geshe Dakpa will give commentary on the 6th Chapter of the text, which focuses on the cultivation of patience. The practice and virtue of patience is often regarded as one of the most important, practical, and commonly referenced teachings by the 14th Dalai Lama. It emphasizes learning to manage anger and cultivating the ability to stay calm and steady in the face of difficult or unfavorable situations.
This is a remarkable opportunity for us to learn and grow under the guidance of such an accomplished teacher.
There is no prerequisite to attend these teachings.
The exact number of sessions for this topic will be determined by Geshe-la as we progress through the text.
Recordings of the class will be distributed to registrants within a couple of days after conclusion of each session.
About Geshe Ngawang Dakpa
Geshe Ngawang Dakpa served as a resident teacher at Tse Chen Ling from 1999-2016. He was born in Nakchu, northeast of Lhasa, Tibet, and became a monk at the age of ten. At the local monastery of Othok, he studied both Dharma and secular subjects extensively before entering Sera Jey Monastery eleven years later. He fled Tibet in 1959. Upon his arrival in India, Geshe-la not only continued his monastic studies but also spent three years at the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, earning an Acharya Degree with honors. Invited by the Queen of Sikkim, he taught at the University of Sikkim for nearly 20 years before returning to Sera Jey monastery in South India and obtaining his Geshe degree. Additionally, Geshe-la taught in Taiwan before arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999. Geshe-la has taught the students of Tse Chen Ling, Land of Medicine Buddha, the South Bay Study Group, and other Bay Area Dharma centers with endless kindness and unsurpassed wisdom since he arrived in the United States in 1999.
Geshe Ngawang Dakpa served as a resident teacher at Tse Chen Ling from 1999-2016. He was born in Nakchu, northeast of Lhasa, Tibet, and became a monk at the age of ten. At the local monastery of Othok, he studied both Dharma and secular subjects extensively before entering Sera Jey Monastery eleven years later. He fled Tibet in 1959. Upon his arrival in India, Geshe-la not only continued his monastic studies but also spent three years at the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, earning an Acharya Degree with honors. Invited by the Queen of Sikkim, he taught at the University of Sikkim for nearly 20 years before returning to Sera Jey monastery in South India and obtaining his Geshe degree. Additionally, Geshe-la taught in Taiwan before arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999. Geshe-la has taught the students of Tse Chen Ling, Land of Medicine Buddha, the South Bay Study Group, and other Bay Area Dharma centers with endless kindness and unsurpassed wisdom since he arrived in the United States in 1999.
Registration:
Advanced registration is required – please make sure to register for each session you’d like to attend on a class-by-class basis. Once you register, the Zoom link will be included on your registration ticket/receipt.
We offer all Dharma teachings and center events on a “dana” basis. This means we’re grateful for your generosity but there is no required cost to attend and no one is turned away for lack of funds.
Suggested donation amounts are provided, and we welcome you to offer what you can to help us sustain our programming and make the dharma and events like this possible. And of course, ordained sangha (ordained nuns and monks) are always welcome free of charge.
If you're not donating at this time but would like to attend, please email [email protected].
Advanced registration is required – please make sure to register for each session you’d like to attend on a class-by-class basis. Once you register, the Zoom link will be included on your registration ticket/receipt.
We offer all Dharma teachings and center events on a “dana” basis. This means we’re grateful for your generosity but there is no required cost to attend and no one is turned away for lack of funds.
Suggested donation amounts are provided, and we welcome you to offer what you can to help us sustain our programming and make the dharma and events like this possible. And of course, ordained sangha (ordained nuns and monks) are always welcome free of charge.
If you're not donating at this time but would like to attend, please email [email protected].
Previous topics:
Commentary on Mind Training by Way of Poem
February - April 2025 |
Dependent Origination
November 6, 2021 & January 8, 2022 
All the Important Points of the Lam Rim
May 2025 |
Explanation and Oral Transmission of Prayers to Padmasambhava
February 5, 2022 
Commentary on Seven-Point Mind Training
2023, 2024 to January 2025 
|