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SILVERTHORNE — This week, Gen-La Chokyi Dhakpa or Michael Gregory, founder of the Summit Dharma Center, is back in Summit County to teach classes and host two retreats. He relocated to Thailand last year where he teaches, and also spends his time in India where he is conducting a three-year retreat.
The first retreat in Silverthorne, which is Wednesday and Thursday, will focus on loving kindness and compassion.
Participants “will learn to let go of ego-clinging and self-cherishing,” Gregory said, and study the practice of accepting love for others and ourselves no matter what. He also said people will learn about “accepting people as they are, a practice also for self.”
The second weekend retreat, Mahamudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance, is about mindfulness of mind. Gregory said he teaches the practice of “how to look at our own lives directly without analysis, seeing directly how the mind consistently projects this world.
“It’s final acceptance of reality — the world is not happening toward you, it’s not happening at you, you are a major player in the manufacturer of your reality. Your mind is a major component.”
He talked about an “incredible compassion” for all people which arises when this is realized.
<b>Online teachings</b>
The Summit Dharma Center now has 33 locations around the world including nine in Colorado (one is in Frisco), along with sites in California, Oklahoma, Iowa, South America, Europe and Africa.
At www.summitdharmacenter.org, the Center’s online community, lessons are available for free. Those interested can tune in to a live class being taught at one of the Dharma Centers or listen to a recorded version. There are seven years worth of teaching stored at the site for the public to share. There are also guided meditations with many, and Gregory said he is available through e-mail for questions about the lesson or meditation.
<b>Burma, not Myanmar</b>
Asked to comment on the situation in Myanmar and the Buddhist protests, Gregory immediately responded with his own request. “I would ask that you not refer to it as that.”
He explained that Myanmar is the name the ruling regime has given to the country, the one used by the “generals.” He said the United States, the United Nation and the people of Burma do not recognize Myanmar as the official name. With that correction understood, he said it was important that the media continue reporting on the situation.
“The generals have shut down all the media. That doesn’t mean we should forget,” he said.
He said of the Buddhist group there, “It’s fantastic they finally woke up and are taking an active stance ... It’s really important for the whole country.”
The first retreat in Silverthorne, which is Wednesday and Thursday, will focus on loving kindness and compassion.
Participants “will learn to let go of ego-clinging and self-cherishing,” Gregory said, and study the practice of accepting love for others and ourselves no matter what. He also said people will learn about “accepting people as they are, a practice also for self.”
The second weekend retreat, Mahamudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance, is about mindfulness of mind. Gregory said he teaches the practice of “how to look at our own lives directly without analysis, seeing directly how the mind consistently projects this world.
“It’s final acceptance of reality — the world is not happening toward you, it’s not happening at you, you are a major player in the manufacturer of your reality. Your mind is a major component.”
He talked about an “incredible compassion” for all people which arises when this is realized.
<b>Online teachings</b>
The Summit Dharma Center now has 33 locations around the world including nine in Colorado (one is in Frisco), along with sites in California, Oklahoma, Iowa, South America, Europe and Africa.
At www.summitdharmacenter.org, the Center’s online community, lessons are available for free. Those interested can tune in to a live class being taught at one of the Dharma Centers or listen to a recorded version. There are seven years worth of teaching stored at the site for the public to share. There are also guided meditations with many, and Gregory said he is available through e-mail for questions about the lesson or meditation.
<b>Burma, not Myanmar</b>
Asked to comment on the situation in Myanmar and the Buddhist protests, Gregory immediately responded with his own request. “I would ask that you not refer to it as that.”
He explained that Myanmar is the name the ruling regime has given to the country, the one used by the “generals.” He said the United States, the United Nation and the people of Burma do not recognize Myanmar as the official name. With that correction understood, he said it was important that the media continue reporting on the situation.
“The generals have shut down all the media. That doesn’t mean we should forget,” he said.
He said of the Buddhist group there, “It’s fantastic they finally woke up and are taking an active stance ... It’s really important for the whole country.”
