Bodhicitta Sangha | Heart of Enlightenment Institute is a non-profit organization offering Tibetan Buddhist meditation classes and retreats taught by Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, a professor of Tibetan Buddhism in the Nyingma lineage.

Teachings by Khenpo Sherab Sangpo are open to all who wish to awaken bodhicitta via teachings and meditation practices that generate compassion and loving-kindness for all living beings.

How to Practice Shamatha and Vipashyana after Completion of the Preliminary Practices

Most people were at the May Retreat in 2019, so they already know how to practice shamatha and vipashyana using the Treasury of Blessings: A Practice of Shakyamuni Buddha.

For those not at the retreat, please watch the videos.

Here is how to practice shamatha and vipashyana for your daily practice when you finish the preliminaries:

Usually we practice the outer preliminaries for 20 minutes every day. Once you finish the preliminaries, you don't have to do that anymore. You should still say the outer preliminaries one time (1x) every day, very slowly with visualizations.

Then, for the inner preliminaries, say the refuge prayer 3x, bodhicitta 3x, Vajrasattva 100-syllable mantra 21x, mandala 1x, guru yoga 1x, and the mantra 100x.

Finish the preliminaries like that.

Then, start the Treasury of Blessings: A Practice of Shakyamuni Buddha according to what I taught at May Retreat in 2019.

At the end, practice either with an object by focusing on the image of Buddha Shakyamuni or without object by focusing on your mind.

Shamatha and vipashyana (in addition to the preliminaries) need to be practiced for at least 30 minutes every single day.

For these instructions, you must watch the 2019 May Retreat videos, if you don't know how to practice shamatha and vipashyana.

Click here for a PDF of these instructions.

Our meditation retreats and classes are open to meditators of all levels regardless of whether you are a Buddhist or not. Join us as we listen, meditate, and grow in the Dharma together.

2020 Teaching Schedule

What: Our meditation retreats and lineage study group classes are open to everyone. Our 37 Stages of Instructions classes are only open to students with prior permission from Khenpo Sherab Sangpo to attend.

When: Click here to view or print a PDF of our 2020 teaching schedule with Khenpo Sherab Sangpo.

Where: Clouds in Water Zen Center, 445 North Farrington Street, Saint Paul, MN 55103

Parking: Free parking in Clouds in Water’s parking lot or on-street parking on North Farrington Street or Aurora Street.

Public Transportation: Clouds in Water Zen Center is located three blocks from the Green Line: Western Station.

Questions: Contact our Teachings Coordinator, Kate Thomas (Gyurmé Chötso), at (651) 647-6767, or email [email protected]

Khenpo Sherab Sangpo has completed his study and practice of Buddhist ritual and received a virtual ocean of teachings from great Buddhist masters, including Kyabjé Jigmé Phuntsok, Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Adzom Druktrul Rinpoche. Not only has he thoroughly studied and contemplated all these teachings on Buddhist sutra and tantra, he has brought this process to fruition.

-Khenchen Padma Tsewang

Lineage Study Group

• Saturday, February 22, 2020, 2:00-4:00 PM
• Saturday, March 28, 2020, 2:00-4:00 PM
• No class in April 2020
• No class in May 2020

We meet to practice the Dzogchen Lineage Supplication and to read biographies of teachers from our lineage together.

We use Skype for remote students. Get your account and connect with Colleen Hartwell on Skype by searching for colleen.hartwell. Call Colleen at (520) 404-8489, if you have any issues connecting remotely, or Kelly O'Neil at (952) 201-1053, if you have general questions about the study group.

Where: Clouds in Water Zen Center, 445 North Farrington Street, Saint Paul, MN 55103

Parking: Free parking in Clouds in Water’s parking lot or on-street parking on North Farrington Street or Aurora Street.

Public Transportation: Clouds in Water Zen Center is located three blocks from the Green Line: Western Station.

Suggested Donation: $15, payable via cash or check at the door; or make a donation online via PayPal.

Hrīh!
In the dharmadhātu palace of Akaniṣṭha,
The essence of the buddhas of the three times,
You reveal the dharmakāya nature of my mind—
O root gurus, at your feet, I pray.

-Supplication to the Root Gurus—Ogmin Chökyi

Rain of Blessings Tsok Feast

Ritual Celebration with Khenpo Sherab Sangpo on March 7, 2020

Please join us to celebrate a ritual tsok feast to honor the anniversary of the passing of Khenchen Padma Tsewang, the first root teacher of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo. We will practice The Rain of Blessings and The Glorious Perfect Vase, a Guru Yoga and Tsok Offering Connected to the Seven-Line Prayer by Mipham Rinpoche. Open to all.

We will provide for everyone food and beverages, plus a printed copy of The Rain of Blessings and The Glorious Perfect Vase, a Guru Yoga and Tsok Offering Connected to the Seven-Line Prayer by Mipham Rinpoche for use at the feast.

When: Saturday, March 7, 2020, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Volunteers, please arrive by 1:00 PM.

Where: Clouds in Water Zen Center, 445 North Farrington Street, Saint Paul, MN 55103

Parking: Free parking in Clouds in Water’s parking lot or on-street parking on North Farrington Street or Aurora Street.

Public Transportation: Clouds in Water Zen Center is located three blocks from the Green Line: Western Station.

Cost: $20 suggested donation. Register online via Formstack or call our Registrar (Colleen) at (520) 404-8489. Make your donation of $20 via PayPal or bring a check or cash to the retreat center on March 7, 2020. All donations will go toward tsok offerings (food, beverages, flowers, etc.) to be purchased and prepared prior to the beginning of the feast by our volunteers.

Volunteer: If you would like to volunteer, please email Kelly O'Neil or call her at (952) 201-1053.

Helpful Items: Please consider bringing to the feast a folding tray table or banker's box (to hold your feast text and food); your mala, ritual bell, dorjé, and damaru (optional); and a container or Ziplock bag to take home tsok (blessed ritual feast food).

We look forward to celebrating the life and Dharma activities of Khenchen Padma Tsewang together with you.

If you are attached to this life, you are not a true spiritual practitioner.

If you are attached to saṃsāra, you do not have renunciation.
If you are attached to your own self-interest, you have no bodhicitta.

If there is grasping, you do not have the view.

Parting from the Four Attachments

Retreat with Khenpo Sherab Sangpo on March 21, 2020

Retreat Topic: Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will offer teachings and guided meditation on Parting from the Four Attachments, a short teaching spoken by Mañjuśrī to the Sakya patriarch, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo.

Teachings, guided meditation and time for your questions will alternate with breaks for tea and vegetarian lunch. Teachings are open to all. Please join us.

When: Saturday, 3/21/20 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Registration opens at 8:30 AM. Please arrive by 8:45 AM and be seated by 9:00 AM.

Where: Clouds in Water Zen Center, 445 North Farrington Street, Saint Paul, MN 55103

Parking: Free parking in Clouds in Water’s parking lot or on-street parking on North Farrington Street or Aurora Street.

Public Transportation: Clouds in Water Zen Center is located three blocks from the Green Line: Western Station.

Cost: Teachings open to all. $60 tuition fee. Register online via Formstack or call our Registrar (Colleen) at (520) 404-8489. Pay your tuition fee of $60 via PayPal or bring a check or cash to the retreat center on March 21, 2020.

Click to view or print a PDF of the retreat poster.

Grant your blessings so that my mind will follow the Dharma.
Grant your blessings so that the Dharma will become my path.
Grant your blessings so that the path will clarify confusion.
Grant your blessings so that confusion will dawn as wisdom.

The Four Dharmas of Gampopa

Retreat with Khenpo Sherab Sangpo on April 18, 2020

Retreat Topic: Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will offer teachings and guided meditation on The Four Dharmas of Gampopa, a short teaching from a Buddhist master who achieved enlightenment in the eleventh century with the guidance of his teacher, Milarepa.

Teachings, guided meditation and time for your questions will alternate with breaks for tea and vegetarian lunch. Teachings are open to all. Please join us.

When: Saturday, 4/18/20 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Registration opens at 8:30 AM. Please arrive by 8:45 AM and be seated by 9:00 AM.

Where: Clouds in Water Zen Center, 445 North Farrington Street, Saint Paul, MN 55103

Parking: Free parking in Clouds in Water’s parking lot or on-street parking on North Farrington Street or Aurora Street.

Public Transportation: Clouds in Water Zen Center is located three blocks from the Green Line: Western Station.

Cost: Teachings open to all. $60 tuition fee. Register online via Formstack or call our Registrar (Colleen) at (520) 404-8489. Pay your tuition fee of $60 via PayPal or bring a check or cash to the retreat center on April 18, 2020.

Click to view or print a PDF of the retreat poster.

Shamatha is the one-pointed concentration of the mind;
Vipashyana is perfect discernment.

Kamalashila's Stages of Meditation

Residential Retreat with Khenpo Sherab Sangpo on May 21-25, 2020

Retreat Topic: Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will offer teachings and guided meditation on Kamalashila's Stages of Meditation, a fundamental text in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition known for its pith instructions on how to practice śamatha and vipaśyanā meditation.

Enjoy teachings, meditation, yoga, and quiet time at a retreat center on a wooded lake.

When: Starts with the evening meal on May 21, 2020, and ends with breakfast on May 25, 2020.

Where: Koinonia Retreat Center

If you would like to be alerted when registration for this retreat is open, please contact our Teachings Coordinator, Kate Thomas (Gyurmé Chötso), at (651) 647-6767, or email [email protected]