In 2023 our resident Geshema Dawa Dolma will give a series of 5-day courses on how to train or transform the mind. 

The key goal of mind training is a radical transformation of our thoughts, attitudes, and habits. We learn how to apply the remedies against our disturbing emotions, and how to develop compassion for all sentient beings.

We all want to avoid suffering and find happiness. This is what motivates us in all our actions, whether it is choosing for an immediate pleasure as having a nice piece of cake, or for future happiness, for instance by saving money for our old-age. There are many degrees of suffering that we can experience, ranging from a small worry to intolerable and lasting kinds of pain. Whatever suffering we experience, we try to protect ourselves from them.

We share this motivation with animals, and when we observe their behaviour, we can see that they are exactly like us. They try their best to avoid the suffering of the moment and to take the pleasure of the moment. The difference there is between human beings and animals is that animals don’t make plans in advance or look ahead as they have no method for doing this. 

According to Buddhism, the main suffering that we experience, comes from the mind. In dependence on the circumstances of life and the way we look at them our minds reacts. If we analyze these reactions deeply, we can see that they contribute to the suffering we experience.

Buddhism offers many methods that can help us to transform our way of thinking and reacting so that we can see our experiences in a different light. Instead of being just concerned with our own happiness, these methods inspire us to extend our concern to the happiness of others. Changing our attitude from being self-centered to an attitude that wishes to be of benefit to others is called the bodhichitta mind.

These methods are subsumed under the LOJONG teachings. They all teach us how to transform our mind by changing our attitude and develop bodhichitta.

The courses are from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday after lunch.

For more information on the individual course, please go to: