Dzogchen is among the most advanced forms of Tibetan meditation, delving into the deepest, most subtle levels of the mind. Renowened Buddhist teacher Mingyur Rinpoche offers insights from decades of meditation to guide us with clarity and playfulness on the journey to recognize the true nature of our mind as fully awake like the Buddha.

Willa Blythe Baker brings simplicity, joy and creativity to this teaching and this practice. This session explores the concept of Mahamudra, which the Tibetan Buddhist master Gampopa defined as “the realization of the natural state of awareness-emptiness, absolutely clear and transparent, without root.”

The philosophy of Madhyamika, or “the Middle Way” has been hugely influential on Buddhist thought for over a millennia. Renowned academic and practitioner Robert Thurman asks how we too can walk the Middle Way in our lives, by recognizing that phenomena and our experiences are not fixed and solid – bringing a sense of harmony, balance, and spaciousness to everything we do.

In Tibetan teachings, compassion and wisdom are intimately connected — we practice compassion to develop wisdom, and vice versa. Nowhere is this more eloquently and beautifully expressed than in the writings of the eighth-century monk, Shantideva. Tibetan Buddhist teacher and scholar Pema Khandro Rinpoche explores Shantideva’s long poem, the Bodhicaryavatara, one of the greatest meditations on compassion ever written.

Imaginatively “becoming” a Buddha or Bodhisattva during meditation is a skillful method central to Buddhist practice throughout Tibet, aimed at illuminating their enlightened qualities and recognizing our true nature as the very same. Join Thubten Chodron, Buddhist nun and founder of Sravasti Abbey, to practice deity yoga and embody the great goddess Tara, known as the Mother of all Buddhas.

Distinguished Buddhist teacher Judy Lief introduces us to the practice of Lojong, which uses a series of slogans to train the mind. From the simple (“Always maintain only a joyful mind”) to the perhaps puzzling (“Self-liberate even the antidote”), these 59 aphorisms are a blueprint for the Bodhisattva path, both in meditation and in life.

“Lucid dreaming leads to lucid living,” says dream yoga specialist Andrew Holecek, who introduces the liberating, revelatory, and powerful idea that life itself is a dream — and leads us through a number of simple but time-proven practices for cutting through conventional thinking and waking up to life.

Humans are very good at finding ways to avoid painful or difficult truths. But what happens if we try feeding, not fighting, the things that scare us? That’s the idea at the heart of Chöd. Renowned teacher/practitioner Tsultrim Allione leads us in discovering how Chöd practice can cut to the very root of suffering: ignorance of how things truly are.

+ Support materials: Two free e-books of additional teachings curated by Lion’s Roar’s editors, plus an excerpt of Thubten Chodron’s new book How to Free Your Mind: The Practice of Tara the Liberator (courtesy of Shambhala Publications).