Rainbow Sangha Day Retreat
A Luminous Heart: A Queer Meditation Retreat on Loving Kindness
What is Loving Kindness?
From a Buddhist point of view, loving kindness (Sanskrit: maitrī, Tibetan: jampa) is the wish for sentient beings to have happiness and the causes of happiness.
A staple of Buddhist practice with a key role to play in the uncovering of our basic goodness, loving kindness is also becoming increasingly popular in the secular-adjacent modalities teaching emotional awareness skills.
Loving kindness, when cultivated consistently, has a profound effect on our relationship with ourselves and with others, bringing a sense of warmth and connection and increasing our willingness to be of service to our communities and the world. It can be used as a concentration practice (Sanskrit: shamatha) while also serving as a wonderful foundation for insight.
This day-long retreat on loving kindness for ourselves and others is being offered by the Jamyang Rainbow Sangha for all who identify as LGBTQ+ and are interested in Buddhism and meditation practice.
It will be suitable for beginners as well as more experienced practitioners and will include group meditations, journaling, and gentle sharing in small groups. When exploring the practices, we will draw upon traditional texts as well as some modern-day research on the benefits of loving-kindness. We will also briefly look at the qualities that precede and support loving kindness, such as tenderness and empathy.
This retreat will be held in person at Jamyang and online, hosted by Buddhist translator and meditation instructor Michael Lobsang Tenpa. Please note that Michael Lobsang Tenpa will be joining us remotely on this occasion.
About Michael Lobsang Tenpa
Michael Lobsang Tenpa is a Tibetan Buddhist translator, meditation instructor, Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) teacher, and student of EcoDharma. Born in Siberia, he earned BA and MA degrees in South Asian studies, worked in social media, and eventually received ordination in Nepal, spending nine years as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic before switching to the path of a lay teacher/practitioner. In addition to years of Buddhist studies and translator work (including translating and interpreting for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and other masters), he also trained as a secular ethics and mindfulness instructor in the Netherlands, the UK, and the US. You can find more info about Lobsang Tenpa and his work on his website.
How to join?
The retreat will take place at Jamyang with the option to join remotely over zoom. Please select the relevant option when registering below. For those joining in person, a hearty vegan lunch is included, as well as tea and coffee during the breaks.
Donation
Jamyang operates on a generosity model. Please select the donation option that is most suitable for your situation.
Jamyang is a non-profit charitable organisation that relies on the kindness of our donors, including students and community members. The donations, or Dana, given when registering for events and teachings support the Centre’s operations, allowing us to deliver our activities. If you’re able to give a little more, that’s wonderful; if a little less, that’s fine too. These donations help with essentials like feeding residential volunteers, housing our monastics, and keeping our doors open. However, we wish to emphasise that the Dharma is always offered freely and no-one is ever excluded because of their financial status, please do not hesitate to request a reduced rate.
For Monastics
We would like to offer this teaching to ordained sangha members free of charge. If you are ordained sangha please register here.
