Wednesday, September 7, 2022
6–8pm ET
$25 | Online via Zoom
Chandra and Nina share a deep interest in the complementary wisdom and devotional traditions of Tibet and India honoring the divine feminine. In this ongoing series, they weave together mystical stories, visualizations, meditations, mantra repetition, and singing chants.
In this October gathering, Chandra will teach the Mahayana compassion practice called tonglen (sending and receiving) in Tibetan. This is a very powerful technique for cultivating bodhichitta, the heart of awakening for the benefit of self and others. We engage with this practice based on the premise that most people, whether they be friend or foe, wish to be happy and free of suffering. From the basis of this understanding, we breathe in suffering and breathe out healing; we breathe in that which we would normally push away and breathe out that which we would normally keep for ourselves. Without expecting anything in return, feeling how tonglen affects us helps to make us less self-centered, less reactive, and more compassionate to everyone, including yourself, often our worst enemy. If this practice has a positive effect on the other, that’s wonderful, but that is a bonus.
This year, Devi Navratri — a 9 night festival in India celebrating the goddess — runs from September 26 through October 4. So to continue in the beautiful trail of the skirts of goddess, Nina will share meditation and prayers from the Chandi Pāth inviting Her into our being, invoking her presence by naming her qualities, and bowing down to Her great presence within each one of us in service to all beings as Compassion, Wisdom, and Strength. We will chant songs of praise to Durga, Sarasvati, and Lakshmi.
All registered participants receive a recording of the session post-event. Open to all!