WISDOM CENTER
OF SANTA CRUZ
Drubpon Pema Rigdzin has trained in Tibetan Buddhism for thirty years and completed extensive Vajrayana retreats under Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. Drubpon is a lead ritual chanter (umdze) at the Vajrayna Foundation, and teacher for Drub Nyiy Döjö Gatsal, our Three-Year Retreat Center. He is also a Chaplain with Stanford Health Care and the Hospice of Santa Cruz County, an acupuncturist with a BA in Physical Therapy and a keen researcher of ancestral forms of healing.
Guide to Riwo Sangchö | Part 4
Hands on Practice with Pema Rigdzin
April 26 @ 10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Standard donation: $40; Low income: $20
Join us to celebrate Earth Day in April, as part of the smoke offering series in an
in-person* and online streaming guided practice of Riwo Sangchö.
A step-by-step explanation on how to prepare the various substances, the ritual instruments, and melodies will be given. We will perform the practice together and there will be time for Q&A.
The topic of smoke offering is incredibly vast. It encompasses many profound aspects in our practice and activities. As a result, this series which began as a two-part introduction has been extended into the spring.
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It is not a prerequisite to have attended previous sessions but it is recommended. Contact us for more details.
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The practice of Riwo Sangchö, Mountain Smoke Offering from the 17th Century Treasure Revealer Lhatsun Namkha Jigme is especially potent in purifying illnesses for beings and the environment, removing obstacles, and accumulating the two kinds of merit through the offering of fragrant smoke, visualization, and mudrā to the four categories of guests (the triple gem, protectors, the six classes of beings, and our karmic debtors.
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Upcoming in the series: Naga and Magnetizing smoke offerings.
Dates TBA.
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"Through this diamond-like practice of Riwo Sangchö, one can ‘ransom’ death, purify the misuse of offerings, and avert various obstacles." Terton Lhatsun Namkha Jigme
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*In person private location hosted by Wisdom Center will be shared upon registration.
Drangsong Foundation
Chülen
Rejuvenation, Fasting and Longevity
With Dr. Eric Rosenbush and Drubpon Pema Rigdzin
Sunday, May 4th, 2025. 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific
In person at the Wisdom Center and Online
As embodied beings, our life force gradually wanes every day. By means of yogic and medicinal methods, the process of aging can be controlled or even reversed.
This daylong immersion will introduce the rejuvenation practices of Tibet and their parallels from other Asian medical and spiritual traditions.
Participants will learn techniques using breath, visualization, herbal medicines, diet, and fasting practices. Special Tibetan chülen herbal medicines will also be available.
‘Ingesting the Sky’ is a meditation practice incorporating breath and visualization to rejuvenate ones being by absorbing the subtle essences of the five elements. Instructions of this practice will be given from the Tsokkyi Thukthik cycle of the Dudjom Tersar.
Topics will include:
Medical Chulen
- How and why we age
- Therapeutic methods to rejuvenate the physical and subtle body
- Rejuvenation in Asian medical systems: Chülen, Rasāyana, Kaya kalpa, and Daoist practices
- Chulen herbs
Spiritual Chulen
- ‘Ingesting the Sky’ meditation practice
- Rejuvenation meditations from the Tibetan medical tradition
Schedule: Pacific time.
10am to 12:00pm
2:00pm to 5:00pm
This program will be recorded and will be available to all registered.
Registration: $108 regular donation; $64 low income donation
Drangsong Foundation
Purifying Nāga Sang: Smoke Offering Series
with Drubpon Pema Rigdzin
Saturday, May 10th, 2025. 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM
In person at the Wisdom Center and Online
In the Tibetan tradition, nāgas are subterranean snakelike beings related to the water and earth elements. They play an important role in harmonizing and protecting the environment and our well-being.
Nāgas become reactive to environmental disturbances and mistreatment caused by human beings resulting in natural disturbances such as floods, droughts, diseases, and so forth. Under conducive conditions, nāgas bestow the boons of rain, good health, and prosperity.
In part five of the smoke offering series, Drubpon Pema Rigdzin will familiarize us with the nāgas world and introduce several Tibetan Buddhist liturgies that employ pure intention, purifying smoke, and visualizations as a method to harmonize our relationship with nāgas.
“In these degenerate times, humans antagonize nāgas, which causes much harm. Whether this harm is a result of one’s own or others’ past karma, the immediate circumstances, such as illnesses are difficult to cure with other methods, even over long periods. This method can swiftly pacify and heal them.” —Mipham Rinpoché
This program will be recorded and available to all who register.
Registration: $40 ; $20 low income
Trüchü
A WATER CLEANSING CEREMONY
From the Düdjom Tersar Khandro Thugthig Cycle
with Pema Rigdzin
Sunday, May 18, 10 am -12 pm pacific
Location: Wisdom Center of Santa Cruz
In-person and online
The trapping of our own minds and thoughts is one main cause of human suffering. Trüchü is a water cleansing ritual performed to purify contaminations caused by emotional and elemental imbalances, physical and mental toxins, karmic impurities, and the five afflictive emotions. The saffron water with the eight qualities is imbued with the blessings of mantra and visualizations of the five wisdom Dākinīs families.
This ritual is performed over the head, in particular, to wash away outer and inner negativities of body, speech, and mind, eliminate hostile spiritual hindrances, pacify astrological inauspicious transits, nightmares, and their bad omens, purge gloom, nourish and empower healing.
This concise ritual belongs to the Khandro Thuktik treasure cycle composed by Düdjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje. The meaning, application, and benefits of the practice will be given.
You may wish to bring your own small towel.
Registration: $40 regular donation; $20 low income