Regular Events
General guidelines for our regular events: If attending in person, please arrive early. Allow enough time to settle yourself comfortably, to greet others and arrange your seating and texts. We will be starting at the scheduled time. In general, open conversation is better after the practice or class, rather than before.
Current health guidelines: Dorje Ling is open. To ensure the safety and health of all of us, please be vaccinated and boosted if you attend in person, and stay away if you are not feeling well or have had a known exposure to any COVID or flu. Masking is optional. Thank you.
Upcoming specific events and practices: Please see the Calendar and the most recent Newsletter for details and links (click on those headings).
Ngondro Practice & Teachings on Sunday
Dorje Ling is now open for in-person practice. We offer the Dudjom Tersar Ngondro practice on Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m., both in person and on Zoom. We have copies of the text at the center; if attending on zoom, you will need your own text. You can order the text at Vimala, either the print or digital version, here:
Zoom link for the Ngondro.
The term Ngondro refers to the foundational practices common to all schools of Tibetan Budhhism. The Dudjom Tersar Lineage is the name given to the large collection of teachings revealed by Dudjom Lingpa and Dudjom Rinpoche. Dudjom Rinpoche was a major terton, or treasure revealer of hidden teachings. He is considered one of the Hundred Great Tertons of the Nyingma lineage.
Dorje Ling is a Nyingma Center founded by Gyaltrul Rinpoche under the spiritual guidance of Dudjom Rinpoche. Dudjom Rinpoche passed in 1987; many current practitioners met him when he visited Oregon and California in the early 1980s. The concise practice we do on Sunday mornings is very fresh, written by His Holiness especially for Western students.
Lunar Day Pujas
Puja is a Sanskrit word which means worship. A puja is a Deity Yoga ritual that generally involves liturgy and visualization. Performing pujas is considered very beneficial for the energy of the Dharma Center and for the participants themselves.
Lunar Day Pujas are traditional Vajrayana Deity Yoga practices. Most months, we gather on the New Moon, and on the 10th and 25th days of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, and we join Tashi Choling's practice session by zoom.
Almost all currently take place at 4:00 p.m. and include a small tsok. Watch our calendar for the confirmed dates each month. We have texts available at Dorje Ling, or bring your own text if you have one.
Buddhism Book Study Group on Tuesdays
Our long-time book study group continued to meet all through the pandemic, and we recently decided to continue our discussions on Zoom, thus allowing more people in various circumstances to participate. In June 2023 we are starting the new book Why We Meditate, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Daniel Goleman; it was written to benefit both experienced meditators and those who are new to the practice. We meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Please email dorjelingpdx@gmail.com for more information, or to let us know you would like to join the group. We will pass your name on to our book group coordinator. Our next book will be chosen and a new group formed in September.
Meditation Class on Wednesdays
Our weekly meditation class, led almost every week by Matthew Small, is helpful for beginners and for more experienced meditators. We meet in person at Dorje Ling, at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Buddhist meditation is a practice of wakeful presence. During meditation, everything outside ourselves is left as it is. Attention is focused on the present moment. The purpose of meditation is to wake up from the maze of habitual distractions and dissatisfactions, and the goal is to be simply present, to experience things as they are.
There are many different types of Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Currently, these Wednesday evening practice sessions focus on several different techniques, with short discussions: silent sitting practices with awareness on the breath, like calm abiding; analytical practices like insight meditation; loving-kindness or metta; and compassion meditations like tonglen, the practice of sending and receiving.
