With this range of courses and retreats, you can find fresh inspiration for the path several times a year thanks to the staff at the Ekayana Institute. The courses all enrich each other, but each sequence can also be attended on its own!
10-year Dharma cycle
STUDY - CONTEMPLATE - MEDITATE SIMPLY AND EFFECTIVELY
"One DHARMA" - compassion and wisdom
From May 2024, Tilmann Lhündrup from the Ekayana Institute will be offering a continuous cycle over ten years that combines personal meditation practice with studying and contemplating the basics of the Dharma. The teaching strands of the cycle are continued at the same time and in the same place every year. This simplifies many things and provides a rhythm. The dates are listed in the PDF below.
The main aim of the cycle is to develop a good understanding of one’s own mind in order to deal more easily with the challenges of our lives. We will explore important topics together, develop our personal practice and also create teaching materials for practitioners that clarify how all Dharma teachings are connected and are basically “One Dharma”.
The courses build on each other continuously. However, participation is possible at any time, even if you have not attended the previous course. The content is provided by Ekayana as audios (and sometimes as videos). This means that a course can also be listened to at a later date. But the best thing is always to be on site, in direct exchange!
All Dharma practice is about cultivating a helpful view that inspires us and ultimately takes us beyond all perspectives and points of view. The cycle is initially designed to last ten years – but it is actually about a continuous path that is itself the goal – always in the now, in all situations, with depth and vision. It is quite possible that the cycle will continue for longer – if Tilmann’s health allows it or if others take over the leadership.
The content axes of the cycle are wisdom and compassion. We develop wisdom through study, contemplation and meditation, whereby calmness of mind and insight meditation are essential. We develop compassion by reflecting on our motivation, uncovering our ability to resonate, by being attentive to the emotional patterns that generate sadness, supported by targeted exercises and contemplation and by expanding our interest to include the well-being of those we encounter. This involves looking inwards, living together with others and working in teams. It is about a balanced development of all areas of life. Life is the instructor and the Dharma is the basis for making good use of the opportunities that arise.
The courses will show the inner, finely interwoven structure of the great variety of Dharma teachings and make clear which teachings are essential and which are dispensable. The tradition-open spirit of the One Dharma or Way (Ekayāna) permeates the whole cycle. It is always about remembering the essentials: to be warmly and cognitively aware – resonant and wise. This is facilitated by a supportive and exploratory togetherness in a dynamic Saṅgha.
In addition to the basics of the Mahāmudrā path and the Lodjong mind training of the Tibetan tradition, the basic course also touches on key teachings of other schools, essential Pali teachings of Southern Buddhism and explanations of simple Vajrayana practices.
- Lhündrup is available to accompany retreats from October 1 to May 31.
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Recurring annual structure
Strand One: Vajrayana course at the beginning of January, five days
Strand two: Mahamudra Vipassana in March, seven days (in 2024 it is in August)
Strand three: Dharma foundation course in the second half of April, eight days (in 2024 it will be in May)
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Strand four: Mahamudra retreat, 2nd half of June, fortnightly
Strand five: Dharma foundation course in the middle of August, eight days
Strand Six: Mahamudra Retreat each October, five days
Learning in the Sangha
In addition, it is recommended to continue practicing and learning in a regional or virtual group throughout the year, once a month or more often, in 1 to 2-hour meetings or sometimes for a whole day. This way we can walk the path with others for some time and learn from each other. There are already several such groups and some have been practicing together for many years. If desired, groups can also be accompanied by assistants who dedicate themselves more intensively to the topics of this cycle as part of the parallel “Teachers Training”. It is best if the content of the meetings is prepared in advance.
Such a group consists of three to ten people. If it becomes larger, it could be advantageous to divide the group. The dynamic in the group is part of our practice and it receives our attention and support so that we grow together and become “Saṅgha-capable” in the best sense of the word. We share our understanding of Dharma and our questions and learn to express Dharma and finer experiences.
The lessons are transmitted via video in four strands and all are recorded as audio. All courses and retreats follow a progressive content structure that facilitates the gradual absorption of the content and provides long-term orientation. The respective structure can be seen in the separate descriptions; we always progress from the simple and easy to understand to the more subtle.
- This ten-year Dharma cycle is for everyone, beginners and advanced practitioners alike. You can therefore invite friends to join you, and it is not closed once it has started. Lateral entrants are also welcome later; the material from previous modules will be made available to them.
The cycle should be helpful for practitioners who have taken part in the Mahāmudrā transmissions of recent years, as it is about embedding the Mahāmudrā, i.e. the practice of natural being, in an overall view and comprehensive Dharma orientation. The topics are deliberately taught in an essential and condensed form, whereby we are always concerned with: What is the actual purpose of this teaching? What beneficial developments does it enable? How can I use it and practise it authentically?
Lichthaftigkeit. In seiner Mitte ist eine gedachte Mondscheibe, die für erwachte Aktivität und den Geist des Erwachens steht. Die leuchtenden Übergänge und das leere Innere weisen hin auf die ungreifbare Natur aller Erfahrungen, ihren dynamischen Aspekt, die Freude des Erwachens und die leuchtende Weite des alles erhellenden Geistes.